Amin’s Legacy was Genuine Emancipation of Ugandans – Son

kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Jaffar Remo Amin, one of the sons of former president Idi Amin Dada, has said his father’s legacy was genuine emancipation of Ugandans and removing the chains of imperialism.

Jaffar Amin told Uganda Radio Network that General Amin, who grabbed power in a military coup in 1971, gave back the country to Ugandans.

Jaffar says that when General Amin expelled Asians in 1972 and gave their properties to Ugandans, he was making them learn how to manage their economy. “A child starts by crawling and then moves to standing,” Jaffar argued. After crawling during Amin’s eight-year-rule, according to Jaffar, Ugandans learnt to stand and walk on their own.

April 11 marked 39 years since Ugandan exiles from Tanzania, backed by the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) captured Kampala ending the eight-year-reign of General Idi Amin Dada.

Amin’s legacy has been dominated by discussion of murders, mismanagement and suffering of Ugandans but Jaffar says the negativity which shrouds Amin’s legacy was orchestrated by the Western world. “When you go to Africans, they have a positive view of Amin…when you come deep down to the grassroots, you will find people who talk positive of him,” he says.

After Amin’s death in August 2003, Britain’s reputable magazine, The Economist wrote; “No one cried when Idi Amin died, except in Uganda, the country he terrorised into penury in the 1970s…hundreds of mourners attended memorial services at a mosque in Kampala, the capital, and in his home town, Arua. His ethnic brethren and fellow Muslims eulogised him as a great man.”

Jaffar admits that there is controversy of killings and mismanagement that happened during Amin’s rule which still dominates debate today.

He however argues that there is a reality that people are not talking about when discussing Amin’s legacy, especially by focusing on his negatives. For instance, Jaffar says Uganda only achieved a surplus budget during Amin’s years and boosted coffee production that earned the country much needed millions of dollars at the time.

Colombus Sembuya, the Sembule Group proprietor, in a 2009 publication titled ‘The Other Side of Idi Amin’ says Amin gave “birth to many of Uganda’s first black millionaires” who received properties from government after the expulsion of Asians. He further credits Amin for starting Uganda’s first and only national flag carrier, the Uganda Airlines Corporation and expanding the Uganda Railways following the collapse of the East African Community in 1977.

Jaffar says Amin is used as a noticeboard and scarecrow by the current government to perpetuate itself in power. He says the Government should learn to accept that Amin was part of leadership and created a positive empowerment amongst Ugandans.