Faces Of Africa - Idi Amin: Famous For the Wrong Reasons

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your excellency this is a surprise welcome what do you mean we have no money I need at least 1 million dollars for intelligence mission immediately everybody I can send you about Idi Amin the more he felt insecure the more ruthless he became so the world Idi Amin is the embodiment of all that's dark and almost animal-like that came out of Africa he used to kill people that man where Capone could come against him he would just kill you water sports on the River Nile near Buju gali in southeastern Uganda the speed and power of these Rapids attract tourists from around the world but 40 years ago this stretch of water was known for a very different reason the country was then ruled by president Idi Amin another child walking down there now was really scary because you feared that in a time of body a dead body would pop up and often sometimes when you'd walk down the river you'd come across a body riddled with bullets as I grew up I also got to language a guy he was a place well people who had been killed by I mean were dumped truck loads will come there I'm offload their corpses into the river it was a good press publish down the bootys because the bodies would be swept away and probably crushed on those stones I never recognized a win well under bruno Idi Amin's seized power of Uganda in a military coup in 1971 he was head of the army and in his mid-forties so help me God cheering crowds poured out to greet the new leader it's difficult to say this now but yes we were very very happy you know I think like all young people you were looking for change I was at the University then there were celebrations all over the university and he came around in a jeep and open jeep and you know we would wave from our hostel so yes the euphoria that was there at that time it was that hopefully was bringing a positive change but Idi Amin was to become one of the 20th century's most infamous leaders some three hundred thousand people are said to have been killed during his eight-year rule so the world Idi Amin is the embodiment of all that's dark and almost animal-like that came out of Africa because the stories about a mean of he you know variously drinking the human blood he you know keeping the heads of his victims and fridges saw those horrific images in the 1970s reminded people of the worst of Nazi Germany and of all that evil stands for dark mysterious menacing primitive animal like yet at the outset the towering six-foot-four Amin who liked to be called Big Daddy was in the spotlight for very different reasons what I think people found fascinating was this very spontaneous person the man who'd be out there would mix with the crowd would join them in dancing or in any celebration here's someone who connected so much with the common man it was a man of the people is friendly it was fun he could sing he could play the organ he was very charismatic he is what you call a character so yes there are two sides to the man indiamain gained power after toppling Uganda's first post-independence president milton a boat a and to whom the country had become a one-party state the two men had been allies but were now deadly enemies they also came from different ethnic groups Amin was a cakwe while a boat a drew his support from the land Acholi people's the members of the Uganda Army and Air Force decided to take over from the civilian role because of the the nast arrangement which were made by the doctor after Milken abort a to disarm the all tribe of Uganda except his own tribe Lonnie and actually from the outset Idi Amin grabbed the attention of the Western media he spoke English rather badly and therefore he came out as something of a comic and the British papers made quite a lot out of that in reality he was very very clever he seemed to be sensible he seemed to be intelligent and he was able therefore to function in spite of the lack of education the obvious lack of education Idi Amin did indeed lack a formal education born in northern Uganda in the mid 1920s he barely went to school he grew up with almost nothing luxury was not part of his life it was always hardship always trying to fight to survive he was raised up mainly by his mother my grandmother which was also just you know very tough big woman just like my father somehow like many poor Ugandan boys seeking an escape from poverty Idi Amin got a job with the British colonial army he was a cook in the army and when they were looking for more people for more you know boots that's when he got a chance to actually join the real physical real army thus around the world war time 1940s he excelled in the military he was a very good soldier and he served the command as I believe as basic quote although he had some excesses where he they wanted to discipline they just kept promoting him because he was dedicated to the job he was outstanding and so he had this maybe someone call it a meteoric rise in the army it was while in the army that the athletic Amin enjoyed his first taste of Fame he was Uganda's liked heavyweight boxing champion for more than nine years and remained a keen swimmer throughout his life just as impressive was his appetite for women polygamy is legal in Uganda and he had at least five wives countless girlfriends and is known to have fathered more than forty children they lived as an extended family at state house in the Ugandan capital Kampala it was fun with my dad all the time it was fun though he was also a very down-to-earth person who wanted to make sure that we are not spoiled kids in school he made sure we were treated just the same as all the other kids although celebrations had greeted a means coup a year later there was a challenge to his leadership Milton a Beaute had by now fled to neighbouring Tanzania where a number of his supporters had joined him in early 1972 word reached a mean that they were on the move the Tanzanian troops are preparing with the modern Chinese arms requested by dr. Apollo Milton or body to come and attack Uganda this the message which I received this morning though the attempt was crushed and may now harbored a growing concern that a boat a would again try to regain power by now his lack of education and political inexperience were also becoming all too apparent he just didn't have the capacity he didn't know how to do it because he did not understand what they were doing he not understand the budget for a country no idea what that was about Foreign Affairs you know it really was the lack of education he was doing the best he could from his point of view and that was not the best from other people's point of view in 1972 Amin a self-proclaimed nationalist unveiled plans for an economic war on what he called the domination of Uganda by foreigners this is this is the papers August 17 coalition so much Loire Valley Jamal's parents were among around 80,000 Asians then living in Uganda Amin ordered them all to get out at the time Asians made up just 1% of Uganda's population but control two-thirds of the non food economy of course we had a very very privileged life it was a life in which the gap between Asians and Africans was immense the Asians many of whom held British passports were given 90 days to leave and allow to take with them only what they could carry among many ordinary Ugandan s-- the move proved popular there was widespread looting and Ameen handed over the Asians property and businesses to his cronies he sent away the Asians who are the backbone of the economy and during that period all the industries came to a halt all the social services disintegrated you know the schools ruined rotten so is the hospitals so nothing was left for Uganda of course there are people who believe he did us a favor in that the Uganda entrepreneurs the local entrepreneurs now came up because they chase the the Asians and most of the other foreigners also left so business was now open for the Uganda's to take over but they were not really ready for it at that point in time if it was now it would have been different that point in time we were not ready we were not business people the races here has a monster year up to a point he was monstrous towards us also he was very very frightening to be near he was frightening to be near originally pro-west ameed had by now swapped political allegiances and was being backed by Libya's Colonel Gaddafi a convert to the Muslim faith he declared Uganda an Islamic state and set aside land for the camp Allah mosque that Gaddafi later financed meanwhile he wasted no chance to deride the country's former colonial master Britain there's a cocktail party at one of our major hotels and Amin has arranged you know one of his publicity stunts to get a group of British businessman in Uganda to basically carry him shoulder-high and declaring the conqueror British Empire so this is Idi Amin trying to posture like you colonizers but now you carry me aloft now I am basically your master the tables have been turned the flamboyant Amin seemingly reveled in publicity he said to have been worked when the Central African Republic's president Jean Bedell Picassa paid a visit and literally out shown him when Bokassa came here the whole chest was full of medals quite a heavy load for him I mean also thought that was a good idea and also started the same in ensuing years Amin bestowed upon himself numerous fake medals and titles he declared himself Lord of all beasts of the earth and fishes of the Seas as well as the King of Scotland actions like these caused Amin to be portrayed as a buffoon and a clown in the West but back home his regime was no laughing matter our parents will always would hear them in their conversation talk about people disappearing talk about people being killed but we are young we couldn't understand some of these things but again this was further compounded by what we also started witnessing in in school when some children would not turn up and just you here ever their parents are fled or their parents have disappeared you say there's no opposition to your rule in this country at the moment many people abroad would say that that is because most of your opponents have been removed over fled no I think you should not listen too much what exile are telling you you shouldn't if you want you come directly to Uganda and they get your representative in Kampala so that he can give you accurate information but I wanted to ask you are you not afraid of interviewing the Conqueror of British Empire as you are British you are not afraid of you among the most notorious elements of idiom means rule was the state Research Bureau the station such Bureau is remembered for torture they had their torture chamber somewhere near the presidential Lodge in NACA syrup Makassar is one of the suburbs of Kampala and they are they they tortured and killed many people it is said from the accounts of red at the fall of a mean the walls in the special search bureau head office were all black stained we are going to see idiom in his torture chambers now they are quite touching you might feel bad about it of course but the thing is everybody has heard about a mean in life today idea means torture chambers are on the camp on a tourist trail so it also had another metallic sliding door outside just here on the gate then just inside there it also had metallic sliding doors on all sides and then prisoners could also die over electrocution the number one site on our tour is Idi Amin's torture chambers of course if I talked about Twitter chambers you feel you're hearing something like dark darkness that fast but many people in the Western world and many people from many other countries have also been hearing a lot about a means so however bad it is however touching it might be still people want to see and they find it interesting just being in here with seeing how like damp and dark and scary it is it's definitely shocking to see what went on here it makes me think that Idi Amin was just a brutal sadistic dictator when you say dark side you know I think I presume you're meaning all this murderous person and that for me murderous if I look at a horror movie and I see the guy going with the whole you know full of blood on him and all this kind of thing and I'm like but that wasn't my father I never saw that kind of person I remember an angry man over a particular issue happening yes but I have seen that and even as we would get scared would get out of his way you know something is wrong and he's angry about this and that and that is the the utmost of you know of a dark person I've seen is someone getting angry photo documentary evidence however testifies to the extent of the killing and torture that took place during Idi Amin's rule prominent people were among the dead but there were also thousands of ordinary Ugandan during regular purges of the Army soldiers perceived to support Milton a boat a were executed others were killed for their money property or women images like these were unseen in Uganda at the time but published in other parts of the world they provoked outrage but also fascination for the man who'd become known as the butcher of Uganda behind all of this was this general myth or rumor or perception that Amin had a mental problem there's so many reports about he having supposedly contracted syphilis as a young man so those all this question of is this madness is this his buddha-nature is that syphilis is it normal is it crazy a means alleged interest in witchcraft and blood rights added to the intrigue his solutions were through witch doctors and you can imagine the kind of message they should they must have been giving him Amin spoke quite casual about testing blood it was not to me directly but you will when cabinet meetings and words when anything that would give him a sense of bigness and huge sate why Amin acted as he did remains a mystery but there are many theories the more he felt insecure the models less he became the more I felt insecure he would definitely want to do things that he wouldn't have done otherwise he did not have any idea of how to run a government I pointed out that he was of humble education he hadn't studied a lot so that instead of the inferiority complex could have been made him to become brutal because how do you deal with people who I indicated yet you are not educated people say he was good in the beginning because I they say with time he just started losing control over his army and also he fell out with many people and he started also being very despite one death struck at the very heart of Idi Amin's family itself it was that of his third wife Kay Hussein Giroux Gers mother I think to the very tragic tragic event I I even might personally have difficulty getting to grips with with it I remember how she has a very bright person she has a very loving mother she she not only to us higher children but to also other children Kay's mutilated body was discovered in August 1974 she was aged around 30 I hadn't known about the conflict she had been having with my father at the time the circumstances surrounding Kay's death remain a mystery perhaps inevitably a means notoriety led to the finger being pointed at him I had my discussions with him on it and honestly I am I really made my peace with my father on the issue of my mother yeah I made peace with him on that and his king by the mid-1970s there had been at least two attempts on IDIA means life and it said he was obsessed by the threat of a counter-attack by Milton a Beaute then in July 1976 came a humiliation that has been immortalized in films and books in a daring air raid Israeli commandos rescued hostages from a hijacked plane Amin had allowed to land at Entebbe Airport the hijackers were Pro Palestinian militants the Israelis also killed the hijackers and destroyed a quarter of Uganda's fighter planes the relevant area exposed that Amin had no emit heat was a weak regime a lien had the ability to make the world fear by talking but in real sense there was no Amin I can confirm that was very devastating after that raid he never recovered his authority so what capability does your Air Force have now I can't tell you any secrecy because you might have passed this information to South Africa which I am actually aiming to destroy Johannesburg understood and kept down this is my M this this am very serious about this by 1978 Ugandan soldiers were mutinying and fleeing across the border to neighbouring Tanzania idiom means sent in troops Tanzania launched a counter-attack and in April 1979 Kampala fell if you can see didn't mean what you're going to do with it the ban treaty is flesh no one is yet internally we put them here in a museum with if it's possible but Idi Amin was not captured he fled first to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia here he and family members were given a home in Jeddah it was this retirement that he really needed from all this high octane life of action man media tension war then finally you have this so peaceful normal life here so tell us this is what I want the most I want to be able to drive my own car without this bodyguard and go to the supermarket or to the hotel to have he like Turkish coffee to have his Turkish coffee or have a meeting with the sword an old friend who you know no he kept himself it's really up to the ant he liked going swimming particularly in 1980 a BBC television crew trapped a mean down in the meantime his worst fears had been realized his archenemy Milton a boat a had become Uganda's president once more you know what a vote he said last week I heard him say it he said that Idi Amin Dada should be brought back to your gander in Chains that's what he said at that rally yes but he knows that I am very popular Oh Bertie is against any leader popular in Uganda because he is the unpopular even in exile Idi Amin remained in the limelight 1981 saw the release of the first of a number of feature films based on his life I need at least 1 million dollars for intelligence mission immediately the film which portrays the former president as a brute and a tyrant was a popular success in many parts of the world we're simply out of foreign currency well bregma a copy even reached Idi Amin himself in Jeddah suddenly I received a call from my production manager in London is a shelled you can't believe you know something he a video called here and he is congratulated you for making the film right he said it was first-class film that's what he said he was only interested in publicity whichever way he gets it but his bad publicity or good prophecy never bothered him never bothered him Idi Amin remained in exile until his death in August 2003 he was in his late seventies and had been in hospital for some time today Uganda is one of the world's fastest-growing economies there are no monuments here to commemorate Edea mean no statues and no plaques yet on the streets of Kampala his name is far from forgotten the bad thing about Idi Amin II was a dictator and it didn't respect human rights Idi Amin was a man who loved this band he was a patriotic leader now every Wendon is now beginning to remember him to see us the best present ever this country will ever get he used to kill people that man whereupon would come against him he would just kill the verdict of the rest of the world however is less ambiguous he damaged Uganda's image you know so much so that even since all parts of the world where you go when you tell them uganda they say all that country of Idi Amin nearly the whole world go to know that there was a brutal dictator in Uganda well he made us famous for the wrong reasons everybody have been promoting investment for the last 11 years and the only thing some people knew about Uganda everybody I can send you about Idi Amin mother mysterious deaths an African tyrant stunning up to Western powers bodies being flown down into the river now the world's longest river the whole cocktail just basically meant that Amin would become that unforgettable person unforgettable yes but Uganda is moving on and this stretch of the Nile where children once fear to walk is now a place to relax and have fun

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Channel: CGTN Africa

Views: 1,379,201

Rating: 4.3805418 out of 5

Keywords: Africa, News, CCTVAFRICA, Faces of Africa, Idi Amin, Uganda

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Length: 29min 9sec (1749 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 12 2013

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