WikipediaExtracts:Idi Amin

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{{cite news |date=17 July 2012 |title=The rise of inflated job titles |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18855099 |access-date=17 October 2025 |publisher=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=4 October 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251004032736/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18855099 |url-status=live}}</ref>"},"name":{"wt":"Idi Amin Dada"},"honorific_suffix":{"wt":"{{abbr|VC|Victorious Cross}}, DSO, MC, {{abbr|CBE|Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular}}<ref name=\"title\"/>{{efn|name=First|Idi Amin was never awarded the Distinguished Service Order or the Military Cross honors of the British Empire}}"},"birth_name":{"wt":"Awon'go Idi Amin Dada Oumee"},"image":{"wt":"Idi Amin at UN (United Nations, New York) gtfy.00132 (cropped).jpg"},"caption":{"wt":"Amin in the UNGA, 1975"},"order":{"wt":"3rd"},"office":{"wt":"President of Uganda"},"term_start":{"wt":"25 January 1971"},"term_end":{"wt":"11 April 1979"},"vice_president":{"wt":"Mustafa Adrisi"},"predecessor":{"wt":"Milton Obote"},"successor":{"wt":"Yusuf Lule"},"birth_date":{"wt":"{{birth date|1928|05|30|df=yes}}<ref name=\":3\">{{cite book |last=Leopold |first=Mark |url=https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300260885/idi-amin/ |title=Idi Amin: The Story of Africa's Icon of Evil |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-15439-9 |location=New Haven, CT |archive-date=19 February 2024 |access-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219093038/https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300260885/idi-amin/ |url-status=live}}</ref>"},"birth_place":{"wt":"Kampala, Uganda Protectorate"},"death_date":{"wt":"{{death date and age |2003|08|16|1928|05|30|df=y}}"},"death_place":{"wt":"Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"},"constituency":{"wt":""},"party":{"wt":""},"spouse":{"wt":"At least 6, including:\n{{plainlist|\n* {{marriage|Malyamu|1962|1974|end=divorced}}\n* {{marriage|Kay|1966|1974|end=divorced}}\n* {{marriage|Nora|1967|1974|end=divorced}}\n* {{marriage|Madina|1972}}\n* {{marriage|Sarah Kyolaba|1975}}\n}}"},"children":{"wt":"43 (claimed)<ref>{{cite news |last=Nakajubi |first=Gloria |date=15 July 2015 |title=Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's widow Sarah Kyolaba dies in the UK aged 59 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ugandan-dictator-idi-amins-widow-sarah-kyolaba-dies-in-the-uk-aged-59-10322083.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925164429/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ugandan-dictator-idi-amins-widow-sarah-kyolaba-dies-in-the-uk-aged-59-10322083.html |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=21 September 2015 |work=The Independent}}</ref>"},"relatives":{"wt":"{{cslist| Mustafa Adrisi | Isaac Maliyamungu | Juma Butabika | Isaac Lumago}}"},"signature":{"wt":"Idi_Amin_Signature.png"},"nickname":{"wt":""},"allegiance":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* British Empire (1946–1962)\n* Uganda (1962–1979)\n}}"},"branch":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* King's African Rifles (1946–1962)\n* Uganda Army (1962–1979)\n}}"},"service_years":{"wt":"1946–1979"},"rank":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Lieutenant (British Empire)\n* Field marshal (Uganda)\n}}"},"commands":{"wt":"Commander-in-Chief of the Uganda Army"},"battles":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Mau Mau Uprising\n* 1971 Ugandan coup d'état\n* 1972 invasion of Uganda\n* Uganda–Tanzania War\n}}"},"resting_place":{"wt":"Al Ruwais Cemetery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwDA"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt57" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt58" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt59" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt60" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt61" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt62" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1214851843" about="#mwt63" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles" data-mw='{"name":"templatestyles","attrs":{"src":"Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"}}'/>

Awon'go Idi Amin Dada Oumee (30 May, 1928 – 16 August, 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and dictator who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until his overthrow in 1979. He gained power after the 1971 Ugandan coup d'état and subsequently ruled the country under a regime characterized by rampant human rights abuses, economic mismanagement and corruption. International observers and human rights groups estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were killed under his regime.

Amin was born to a Kakwa father and Lugbara mother. In 1946, he joined the King's African Rifles, part of the British Colonial Army, as a cook. He rose to the rank of lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somali rebels and then the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. Uganda gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, and Amin remained in the army, rising to the position of deputy army commander in 1964 and being appointed commander two years later. He became aware that Ugandan president Milton Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, so he overthrew Obote in 1971 and declared himself president.

During his years in power, Amin shifted from being a pro-Western ruler enjoying considerable support from Israel to being backed by Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, the Soviet Union, and East Germany. In 1972, Amin expelled Asians, a majority of whom were Indian-Ugandans, leading India to sever diplomatic relations with his regime. In 1975, Amin assumed chairmanship of the Organisation of African Unity, an intergovernmental organisation designed to promote solidarity among African states (an annually rotating role). Uganda was a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1977 to 1979. The United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1977, and Amin declared that he had defeated the British and added "CBE" to his title, for "Conqueror of the British Empire".

During the late 1970s there was increased unrest in Uganda, prompted by Amin's persecution of political dissidents and certain ethnic groups and also by the country's very poor international standing, a result of Amin's support for the 1976 hijacking that led to Israel's Operation Entebbe. He then attempted to annex Tanzania's Kagera Region in 1978. Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere ordered his troops to invade Uganda in response. Tanzanian Army and rebel forces successfully captured Kampala in 1979 and ousted Amin from power. Amin went into exile, first in Libya, then Iraq, and finally in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until his death in 2003.

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