On This Day in History: January 25

Idi Amin stages a coup

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People don’t usually receive the nickname “Butcher” without earning it, and Idi Amin definitely earned “Butcher of Uganda,” killing as many as half a million of his own people during his reign as “president.” I used quotation marks because it’s not like he legitimately earned that position.

--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: January 25, 1971--

We have British colonialism to thank for teaching Amin how to kill, as he joined the Colonial Army in 1946. As a cook. Well, not even a cook. An assistant cook. The following year he was transferred to an infantry unit as a private and saw plenty of action, working his way up the ranks as high as they would permit one with his skin color, which was warrant officer. In 1962, with Uganda achieving independence, he began his meteoric rise to the top of their military, eventually attaining the rank of Field Marshall. His military nickname was “the machete.”

In 1965 he and the Prime Minister, Milton Obote, were investigated in some “arms for ivory” deal with the Congo and rather than atone, they decided fuck it we’re in charge now. Obote declared himself executive president and Amin’s forces attacked the palace and sent President Mutesa into exile.

But Amin and Obote’s friendship didn’t last. Half a dozen years later Amin decided I’m the one with the loyal army, so fuck this Obote guy. On January 25, 1971, he staged a coup and Obote fled to Tanzania. Amin established military rule and declared himself High Overlord of Everything / You Mess with Me You Die. He also fucked around a lot, having at least six wives and over 40 children.

He ruled by decree, which is something Trump wanted to do, but the U.S. wasn’t willing to support him as dictator so thankfully he could only fuck over America just so much. But Amin got what he wanted, and what he wanted was murder. He purged Obote supporters from the military and massacred ethnic groups he felt didn’t support his regime. He murdered journalists and educators and preachers and bureaucrats and lawyers and judges and students and . . . anyone he surmised was the remotest threat. Many of the slain were ignobly disposed of in the Nile River. And yet, he proclaimed, “I am the hero of Africa.” He also praised Hitler and said stuff like “You cannot run faster than a bullet.”

After eight years and half a million murders he picked a fight with Tanzania and they fought back, with the help of Ugandan exiles, ousting him from power. The following year the exiled Obote was returned to power in a (probably rigged) election, and Amin lived the rest of his life in Saudi Arabia, expressing no remorse for what he’d done.

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