Idi Amin Dada Oumee (1925 –2003), the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979 and de facto military dictator, considered one of the most brutal despots in world history, was ousted from power when Tanzanian troops captured Kampala on this day in 1979, following failed attempts to capture Tanzania’s Kagera Region in 1979.
Amin went into exile, first in Libya, then Iraq, and finally in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until his death on August 16, 2003.
Amin, who joined the King’s African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army as a cook, rose to the rank of lieutenant and was appointed commander of the Uganda Army in 1965 after Uganda gained independence in 1962, declared himself president in 1971 after overthrowing President Milton Obote in a coup d’état. Amin’s rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution and extrajudicial killings, as well as nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. International observers and human rights groups estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were killed under his regime.
-ENCL