Apparently, the “Butcher of Africa” is not doing so well.
Idi Amin, whose 1971 to 1979 reign in Uganda was one of the bloodiest in Africa’s modern history, is in a coma and on a life support system in Saudi Arabia, one of his wives said today. “They have told me he is in coma and on a life support machine. We are still waiting for more information from there,” Madina Amin said in a brief telephone interview with AFP.
Idi Amin has not been back to Uganda since he was ousted by joint forces of Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles on April 11, 1979.
Up to 400,000 people are estimated to have died during his time in office or are still unaccounted for.
He confiscated all their properties, which he distributed to his cronies, who later ran them down. The economy collapsed, triggering blackmarket trade since all essential commodities like soap, sugar, or fuel became scarce.
A whole generation of Ugandan intellectuals were either killed for questioning the high-handedness of the regime or fled into exile and many never returned.
“I am leading a quiet life and committed to my religion, Islam, and Allah. I don’t have problems with anyone,” Amin told the newspaper’s reporter in his luxury home in Jeddah.
Well, I am sure many people have a problem with Idi. Besides the atrocities he committed against his own people, let us not forget his role in Entebbe, which included the murder of a defenseless 75 year old woman on his orders.
I suspect that once he dies, he is ending up in a place alot hotter than Uganda and Saudia Arabia.
