1. Amin released all political detainees that were languishing in Luzira : For example several
Baganda notables including one of Sekabaka Muteesa’s sisters, the former vice president had been
sentenced to imprisonment for one year bet because Amin wished to address all former monarchs at one seating, he ordered Nadiope’s body had reposed in Kensal Green Cemetery for close to two years.
2. Amin promoted and lifted the sports image in Uganda: He thrilled Ugandans and the entire world when he led his cabinet and leading personalities, including religious leaders in a friendly soccer match shortly after taking power. Among those playing was the late Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga of the Roman Catholic Church.
3. Amin also went ahead to provide moral and financial support to sports: In 1972, John Akii Bua won a 400m hurdles gold medal in the Munich Olympics held in Germany the only Gold Uganda has won at the games history. Uganda reached the Africa cup of Nations 1978 and ever since then, has never qualified for the finals
4. Amin hosted the Organization of African Union (OAU): No one seriously believed the Organization of African Union (OAU) heads of state would come to Uganda so soon if ever. But surprisingly, in his characteristic way, Amin pushed ahead anyway with a shortage of hotels and conference facilities. It was suggested that new ones had to be put in place. He went to complete the construction of the
OAU conference Centre and Nile Hotel. A Yugoslav company Energy-Project was contracted and
Worked twenty four hours a day in three shifts and the project was completed in June just ready for the meet. This project had been started in the Obote days in preparation for the OAU summit
that was scheduled earlier for June 1971 but it was not until 1975 that the OAU agreed to come. The Heads of State did come to Uganda as planned.
5. The exchange rate of the shilling to the dollar remained steady between 7shs and 7.50shs between 1971 and 1979 and on the black market it was 16shs.
6. Amin is remembered for the constructing, purchasing and maintaining national assets in foreign lands: Prominent among these was Uganda House in New York, Uganda House in United Kingdom on Trafalgar square and Diplomatic properties in Geneva, Brussels, Nairobi, and Mogadishu.
All these properties are in Prime location. Also coffee marketing board property and storage
facilities in Mombasa.
7. Amin as a deeply Religious man: It is reported that Amin donated significantly to the construction of Church House, a Church of Uganda project. The donation was part of the Church’s centenary celebrations in 1977.
8. Amin also takes credit for uniting’s once fractious Muslims under the banner of the Uganda
Muslim Supreme Council: He allocated to the council the land at old Kampala on which the
magnificent “Gadhafi Mosque” stands. Amin is also credited with the initiative that finally culminated in today’s Islamic University in Uganda at Mbale. In 1975, he commissioned Lira Mosque but left it incomplete when his government fell.
9. Credit goes to President Idi Amin Dada for the Creation of Uganda’s first and only national flag carrier, the Uganda Airlines Corporation. He rescued ‘The Flying Crane’ out of the wreckage of the East African Airways, and the Crane proudly traversed the international skies and landed at
the world’s airports to the admiration and envy of many. All this was for the purpose of ensuring availability of air transport for Ugandans, visitors and air cargo at affordable charges. Amin saw to it that Uganda Airlines started to the Middle East and Nairobi. Uganda Airlines flew to Nairobi, Rome,
Frankfurt, London, Dubai (in Obote II), Bombay, Internally, it had flights to Gulu, Arua, and Kasese.
Today, Uganda Airlines has just been revamped , having plummeted from the skies in May 2001 and leaving
Uganda shamefully unpresented in the air transport sector and granting the government –owned
Kenya Airways (KA), Rwanda Airways, Air Tanzania virtual ownership of our skies to say nothing about regional dominance. KA runs five flights to Uganda per day on a route reckoned to be one of the most expensive but profitable in the world. A known fact is, of the 150 airlines worldwide 70 have
majority government ownership, 20 have minority government share holdings. In the European
Union, Five major EU carriers presently have government holdings ranging from 90-100 percent. It’s not true that governments cannot properly run ventures like Airlines. Kenya has Thailand, Singapore, Rwanda and South Africa.
10. Under Amin, Uganda had 65 air force planes. These included L-29 trainers, Twin Otters, MIG-17
and MiG-21( My Late Brother In Law was one of the pilots, a brillliant Guy. Whenever he arrived in Gulu in his MIG 21, he would announce this by flying over our house at a very low altitude, and that was ear drum busting LOUD!!!, Then arrive to our house in a CHOPPER and give us a RIDE of our llives in the Chopper!!!. My first expirience in a Helicopter! ) fighter bombers. Uganda Air Cargo (the cargo unit of Uganda Airlines) 2 Hercules C-130 transport aircraft. Police Air Wing, a full squadron (12) of helicopters. Uganda Airlines, six Fokker Friendship F-27 propeller planes for domestic flights to Nairobi. Two Boeing 707 jetliners. Presidential jet, a G-2 Gulfstream.
11. Early 1970, according to National Housing Statistics, NHCC built flats, marionettes and
bungalows in top class residential areas of Bugolobi (872). Bukoto White (130), Bukoto Brown (180),
Kololo (80), Nakasero (44), Wandegeya inter alia (136). Middle to low housing estates were built in Luwafu (51) and Mulago. Idi Amin had plans of having apartment blocks like those in Bugolobi in places like; Kawempe, Mutundwe & Kansanga.
12. Amin expanded the Uganda Railways Corporation: The railway transported heavy equipment for
inland with relative ease, for until that time the main form of transport into the interior was ox-
drawn wagons. It also expedited the export of coffee and tea and encouraged other types of
commerce.
13. Idi Amin’s government came under great pressure to increase financial support to Ugandans
engaged in major economic activities, which pressure increased after declaration of the
economic war in August 1972.
14. Amin ensured that electricity reached remote areas such as Arua and Kyaggwe. He did this
through UEB.
15. The Textile Sector: The textile sector was another area which Amin Dada took special care to
nurture and expand his intention was to make Uganda the biggest manufacturer of cloth and other
related items in Eastern Africa.
16. Satellite links: Amin is also remembered for linking Uganda to the rest of the world by putting up earth satellite at Mpoma in Mukono and at Ombaci in his home region of West Nile. By the time it was set up in the 70s, the satellite station was one of the very few of its kind on the African continent, another being in Nigeria. According to one of his widow, Mama Madina Amin, the
Mpoma Earth Satellite Station was Amin’s gift to the Baganda.
17. Amin returned the body of Sir Edward Muteesa II for a state funeral with full honors: Muteesa
who was Uganda’s first President had died in London on 19th November 1969. His death was
attributed to poison administered by his political enemies and his body had reposed in Kensal Green
Cemetery for close two years. Amin haters attribute the attack on Lubiri palace on him forgetting
that Amin being the army commander then, he acted on the orders of the commander in chief
then Dr. Milton Obote it’s like today blaming General Kale Kaihura for blocking Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi from visiting Kayunga, general Kaihura acted on the orders from the
commander in Chief Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
18. Amin appointed Elizabeth Bagaya as Africa’s first female Foreign Minister in 1972, before Britain and most of Europe had female Foreign Ministers or woman Prime Ministers like Margaret Thatcher.
19. On 4th August 1972, Amin was touring Tororo in eastern Uganda when he announced a dream he had had and whose implementation would have far reaching effects on the lives of all Ugandans, altering their attitudes forever. In the dream, a higher power had directed him to rid Ugandans of foreigners who were “milking” the economy at the expense of native Ugandans. The President directed Uganda’s 70,000 Asians (mostly Indians) 90 days to denounce their British citizenship or leave the country.
20. The expulsion of the non-citizen Asians in 1972 destabilized the economy for a year but the event laid the ground work for the emergence of a Black Ugandan business class.Idi Amin Empowered Us BLACK Ugandans to manage our economy. Kenyan and Tanzanian businesses are mostly fully foreign owned! We Ugandans, albeit corruption, manage our own destiny. Thanks to Amin.
21. Unlike what most Ugandans and the world believe, the Amin government valued the Asians’
property, compensated then.
More proof that *None can lead a country better than her citizen*
