Book Review: The Fall of Idi Amin

Book Review

Title: Culture of the Sepulchre-Idi Amin’s Monster Regime
Author: Madanjeet Singh
Publisher:Penguin Viking, 2012
Pages: 237.
Price: Rs. 499/-

The Fall of Idi Amin

In the tradition of the ICS Collectors of the 19^th century, a former Indian Ambassador to Uganda has written an engaging first-hand account of his experiences in Uganda during the latter part of Idi Amin’s rule. Such memoirs prove to be very useful accounts of a time and place when information on the inner workings and doings are not generally accessible.

 This book is a personalised account of the chaotic last days of Idi Amin’s blood-soaked regime through the recollections of then Indian Ambassador Madanjeet Singh. The Indian perspective from that time is important because Idi Amin triggered the largest Asian refugee exodus from Uganda to the UK, Canada, America, India and other places in the Seventies.

 In his zeal to blame these industrial and trading classes who had served to build the country for generations, Amin expelled all Asians without distinction. Amin labelled them disloyal and was angry with their perceived refusal to integrate with the native Ugandan, particularly by way of marriage.

Today it is seen that Uganda’s loss was the gain of all the countries that received the desperate refugees, including some neighbouring African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania. Many of these erstwhile exiles have proved to be highly successful, starting afresh from scratch in their new domiciles. And some have even gone back to their beloved Uganda.

The book makes for interesting reading today, three decades or more after the rule by terror, intimidation, torture, subterfuge, outright lies and assassination described in it. This precisely  because such tactics have not disappeared even today. Also in the annals of recent African history, Idi Amin’s brutal rule and tribal fratricide was not that atypical or exceptional.

Depicted as a buffoon in this and many other accounts, Idi Amin  may well have been underestimated. Witness that he died comfortably abed, decades after his fall from power, in luxurious exile in Saudi Arabia. He was granted asylum there with all the trappings and status of a former ruler, in recognition for his services towards the promotion of Wahabi Islam in Uganda.

Amin’s other notable friend and benefactor while in power, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, was himself hounded to death in his own country for a style of governance and  performance not unlike Amin’s. Colonel Gaddafi’s attraction for Amin was due to the latter’s vociferous support of the Organisation for African Unity. The OAU was and remains an elusive quantity, but nevertheless caught the imagination of the strong man of Libya as a desired bulwark against big power manipulation.

And of course, militant Islam, an off-shoot and possibly unintended consequence of state sponsored Islamisation, has a lot to answer for in our current era of continuous terrorism and retribution. Today it seems clear that the promotion of Islamism results in extremism overtaking the accepted norms of nationhood. And Idi Amin’s experiment in this regard not only opened up religious and tribal fissures at the time but also ended badly.

Idi Amin did very well for a semi-educated army cook risen to absolute power. He practiced classic British style divide and rule policies with considerable panache. Amin did this amongst his own supporters and Government appointees in his dictatorship. He exploited tribal and religious rivalries by playing one off against the other. He used the semi-foreign Nubians, originally from neighbouring Sudan, to carry out his suppressions and oppressions. He killed or exiled his perceived opponents or they jumped ship on their own to save their lives. And yet, his Opposition, both at home and abroad remained sorely divided amongst themselves.

In addition, Amin also exploited big power rivalries. He milked the Soviets for guns, troops and technicians by leaning towards “African Socialism” and by offering them a sphere of influence. He did the same with the Libyans and Saudis, obtaining money and armaments through or paid for by them, in exchange for his commitment against “Imperialism” and for “African Solidarity”.

And yet, Uganda’s greatest export and revenue earner, Coffee, was purchased largely by the Americans and Europeans. Ironically, it is when, to counter-balance Soviet influence, the US embargoed purchases from Uganda, that Amin’s hold on power began to unravel. Nevertheless, this proactive foreign policy worked for a very long time for Amin.

Madanjeet Singh has written his book in the form of a memoir, and this gives it authenticity, particularly as he peppers it with events from his own personal life. And remarkably, for a career diplomat, he demonstrates extraordinary courage. He refused to leave Kampala throughout the defeat of Amin’s forces by those from Nyerere’s Tanzania, the installation of the new government and all the instability and lawlessness that accompanied those dangerous days. But having said that, there is more than an occasional whiff of self promotion in the book which however can be forgiven in favour of the sincerity it exudes.

 (802 words)
20^th March 2012
Gautam Mukherjee

Published in The Sunday Pioneer and online at www.dailypioneer.com in the AGENDA Section BOOKS Page on