Editing Idi Amin Dada (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
The exact details of Amin's birth and childhood are unclear since he never spoke of such matters himself publically and no official written accounts of his life were published; as such, there are discrepancies regarding when and where he was born. Most biographical sources claim that he was born in either Koboko or Kampala around 1925. Other unconfirmed sources state Amin's year of birth from as early as 1923 to as late as 1928. Amin's son Hussein stated that his father was born in Kampala in 1928. The most acceptable birthday of Idi Amin is May 17, 1925.

According to Fred Guweddeko, a researcher at Makerere University, Amin was the son of Andreas Nyabire (1889–1976). Nyabire, a member of the Kakwa ethnic group, converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam in 1910 and changed his name to Amin Dada. He named his first-born son after himself. Abandoned by his father at a young age, Idi Amin grew up with his mother's family in a rural farming town in northwestern Uganda. Guweddeko states that Amin's mother was Assa Aatte (1904–1970), an ethnic Lugbara and a traditional herbalist who treated members of Buganda royalty, among others.

===Serving in the Colonial Army===
Amin joined an Islamic school in Bombo in 1941. After a few years, he left school with only a fourth-grade English-language education and did odd jobs before being recruited to the army by a British colonial army officer, joining the King's African Rifles in 1946, serving in Somalia to fight in the Shift War and later in Kenya to fight in the Mau Mau Uprising in 1952.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/28/archives/center-of-an-african-storm-idi-amin.html Center of an African Storm Idi Amin], ''The New York Times''</ref>

Amin would very quickly rise through the ranks in the Colonial Army, attaining the rank of lieutenant in 1961, one of the first Ugandans to hold such a rank. After Uganda gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, he received a series of promotions within Uganda's post-colonial army, rising to Commander of the Army in 1965 and being appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces five years later. Amin began building up the Ugandan military by recruiting members of the Kakwa, Lugbara, South Sudanese, and other ethnic groups from the West Nile area bordering South Sudan.

===President of Uganda===
Eventually, a rift developed between Amin and President [[Milton Obote]], exacerbated by the support Amin had built within the army by recruiting from the West Nile region, his involvement in operations to support the rebellion in southern Sudan and an attempt on Obote's life in 1969. In October 1970, Obote took control of the armed forces, reducing Amin from his months-old post of commander of all the armed forces to that of the commander of the army.

Having learned that Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, Amin seized power in a military coup on 25 January 1971, while Obote was attending a Commonwealth summit meeting in Singapore.<ref>[https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/looking-back-1971-uganda-coup Looking Back at the 1971 Uganda Coup], The Wilson Center</ref> Troops loyal to Amin sealed off Entebbe International Airport and took Kampala. Soldiers surrounded Obote's residence and blocked major roads. A broadcast on Radio Uganda accused Obote's government of corruption and preferential treatment of the Lango region. Cheering crowds were reported in the streets of Kampala after the radio broadcast. Amin formally declared himself President of Uganda a week later, suspending certain provisions of the Ugandan constitution, and soon instituted an Advisory Defence Council composed of military officers with himself as the chairman. Amin placed military tribunals above the system of civil law, appointed soldiers to top government posts and parastatal agencies, and informed the newly inducted civilian cabinet ministers that they would be subject to military discipline.
[[File:JFKWHP-AR6843-A (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Benedicto Kiwanuka, he did not fear his fatal fate]]
One day, enraged, Amin personally telephoned [https://real-life-heroes.fandom.com/wiki/Benedicto_Kiwanuka Benedicto Kiwanuka] about his position in the country's affairs. But the lawyer did not flinch.

He did not want to follow Amin's tyranny and ignore the law. They even insisted that if he did not follow, they would kill him. But he was a committed man. He knew what was right. And knowing that he would not have been killed if he supported Amin, he knew that he could not do so because of his democratic principles.

During his years in power, Amin shifted in allegiance from being a pro-Western ruler enjoying considerable Israeli support to being backed by Libya's [[Muammar Gaddafi]], Zaire's [[Mobutu Sese Seko]], the Soviet Union, and East Germany. He became increasingly [[Anti-Semitism|anti-semetic]] as his rule continued, expelling all Israeli military advisors from Uganda in 1972. He also sent a telegram to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir praising [[Adolf Hitler]] and essentially saying that [[the Holocaust]] deserved to happen because Jews were untrustworthy.<ref>[https://www.jta.org/archive/idi-amin-and-israel-first-love-then-hate Idi Amin and Israel: First Love, then Hate], ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency''</ref>

In 1975 – 1976, Amin became the Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), a pan-Africanist organization designed to promote solidarity among the African states that served as the predecessor to the modern-day African Union (AU).<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/29/archives/amin-new-head-of-african-organization.html Amin New Head of African Organization], ''The New York Times''</ref> During the 1977 – 1979 period, Uganda was a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In 1977, when Britain broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added "CBE", for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title. Radio Uganda then announced his entire title: "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE".<ref name = Butcher></ref>

During his term as the ruler of Uganda, he helped destroy the nation's economy and reduce its population.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/05/29/idi-amin-squandered-the-wealth-of-uganda/7511e07b-8be8-45f3-895c-5a7f4e5ebc39/ Idi Amin Squandered the Wealth of Uganda], ''The Washington Post''</ref> According to the estimates of exile organizations and Amnesty International, approximately 500,000 people were murdered under Amin. He ordered the expulsion of Uganda's Asian population (which he claimed that he was ordered to do in a vision from God), numbering about 60,000, which resulted in the collapse of the economy as Uganda's Asian community made up a large share of its professional and middle classes.<ref>[https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/when-idi-amin-expelled-50000-asians-from-uganda When Idi Amin expelled 50,000 ‘Asians’ from Uganda], Adam Smith Institute</ref> Amin's inept rule resulted in an influx of refugees into Britain, which led to increased racial tensions during the 1970s and rising support for the National Front.
[[File:Amin's Heads.jpg|left|thumb]]
His main policy for the country (outside of personal aggrandizement) was an attempt to convert the population to Islam. This attempt failed because of his methods, which included assassinating an archbishop, not normally considered a wise move in a Christian country.<ref>[https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1317498/idi-amin-islam-muslims-uganda.html.retrieved,June,2018 Idi Amin, Islam and Muslims in Uganda], ''New Vision''</ref> He also practiced polygamy and fathered an estimated 45 to 54 children, and there were persistent rumors he also engaged in [[cannibalism]], although nothing concrete was ever proven two human heads were found in his freezer.<ref name = facts></ref>

===Downfall===
By 1978, the number of Amin's supporters and close associates had shrunk significantly, and he faced increasing dissent from the populace within Uganda as the economy and infrastructure collapsed as a result of the years of neglect and abuse. After the killings of Bishop Luwum and ministers Oryema and Oboth Ofumbi in 1977, several of Amin's ministers defected or fled into exile. In November 1978, after Amin's vice president, General Mustafa Adrisi, was injured in a car crash, troops loyal to him mutinied. Amin sent troops against the mutineers, some of whom had fled across the Tanzanian border. Amin accused Tanzanian President [https://real-life-heroes.fandom.com/wiki/Julius_Nyerere Julius Nyerere] of waging war against Uganda, and ordered the invasion of Tanzanian territory, formally annexing a section of Kagera.<ref>[https://www.prio.org/publications/10429 The Uganda–Tanzania War, the Fall of Idi Amin, and the Failure of African Diplomacy, 1978–1979], Peace Research Institute Oslo</ref>

In January 1979, Nyerere mobilized the Tanzania People's Defence Force and counterattacked, joined by several groups of Ugandan exiles who had united as the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). Amin's army retreated steadily, and, despite military help from Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Amin was forced to flee into exile by helicopter on 11 April 1979, when Kampala was captured.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/4186254 Review: The Overthrowing of Idi Amin: An Analysis of the War], ''JSTOR''</ref> He escaped first to Libya, where he stayed until 1980, and ultimately settled in Saudi Arabia, where the [[House of Saud|Saudi royal family]] allowed him sanctuary and paid him a generous subsidy in return for staying out of politics.<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/135283/idi-amin-led-quiet-life-in-s-arabia Idi Amin led quiet life in S. Arabia], ''Dawn''</ref>

In the following years, he had become an outcast in Africa since no African country wanted to give it political asylum except for Gaddafi who gave him temporary asylum for a year.

He was arrested in 1989 in Zaire while trying to carry out another coup, Saudi Arabia said he would not be allowed to return but the acting king insisted too much.

He remained in Saudi Arabia for the rest of his life until he died from kidney failure in July 2003 all while fulfilling his desire to never set foot in Uganda again.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/17/world/idi-amin-murderous-and-erratic-ruler-of-uganda-in-the-70-s-dies-in-exile.html Idi Amin, Murderous and Erratic Ruler of Uganda in the 70's, Dies in Exile], ''The New York Times''</ref>