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y &arner Ted Armstrong
.
SPEAKS OUT!
"Big Daddy's"DaysAreNumbered
fter nearly six years of dictato–
ial rule characterized by mur–
der. torture, and oppression,
Uganda's erratic President ldi "Big
Daddy" Amin at last appears to be
slipping from power. Observers be–
lieve a coup against him is not only
possible, but probable.
That can come only as good
news to the 1
O
mi ilion Ugandans
who have been the victims of his
sadistic misrule. Armed with the ab–
solute power of life and death, Amin
has put to death a minimum of
50,000 suspected political or tribal
enemies since his violent accession
to power in January 1971. Sorne
estimates run as high as 250,000.
The stories of brutality and mur–
der filtering out of Uganda are sim–
ply unbelievable. Just a few weeks
ago, for example, an entire univer–
sity was savagely overrun and ter–
rorized - and over 100 students
slaughtered - by Amin 's " goon
squad " because Amin 's swagger–
ing, semi -illiterate son had been
shunned by fellow students.
Winston Churchill once called
Uganda the " Jewel of Africa" - a
beautiful country, verdant, idyllic,
prosperous. Kampala, Uganda's
capi tal sitting astride picturesque
Lake Victoria, was once a thriving
city, popular with foreign tourists.
Today Kampala is rapidly becom–
ing a ghost town . Of its original
100,000 inhabitants, only sorne
40,000 remain, as citizens flee to
rural villages where there is less
chance of being killed or brutalized .
The nation itself is in a state of
The
PLAIN TRUTH November 1976
total chaos - diplomatically, eco–
nomically, socially, and mil itarily -
because of Amin's gross misman–
agement. lt is believed that only half
- if that - of the 30,000 police and
soldiers in Uganda remain loyal to
"Field Marshal" Amín, as he styles
himself. (In addition to being field
marshal and president, he is also
Uganda's defense minister and
minister of foreign affairs.)
One Ugandan recently observed:
" No one knows who is at the
roadblocks - the loyal or the dis–
loyal troops. Either side can kili
you . That is why people are trying
to get back to the countryside."
To hear Amín tell it , however, is a
different story. "This is a paradise
country, " he boasts.
But Ugandans know better. Sup–
port for Ami n among civilians is be–
lieved to be virtually nil. A number
of assassination attempts have al–
ready been made against him. lt is
said that the cautious president
never sleeps in the same bed two
nights in a row.
And now, al ready waning interna!
support has plummeted even fur–
ther in the wake of Amin 's most
recent embarrassment - the suc–
cessful lsraeli commando raid on
Entebbe ai rport last July 4, which
freed 104 hostages on a hijacked
Air France jetliner. Amin is believed
to have aided the hijackers.
True to form, Amín vented his
frustrations by reportedly murder–
ing a number of air traffic control–
lers and other airport personnel for
having failed to prevent the raid.
On the lighter side - if indeed
there is one in this tragic state of
affai rs - Amin has become noted
for his outrageous observations on
history and world affairs, issued fre–
quently over Radio Uganda. Among
other pronouncements, Amín has
expressed admiration for Adolf Hit–
ler ("a great man"); labeled Presi–
dent Julius Nyerere of Tanzania a
coward, a prostitute, and an old
woman; called Henry Kissinger un–
intel ligent for never having con–
su l ted with him; quoted the
blatantly spurious Protocols of the
Elders of Zion as evidence of the
"Jewish menace"; asked t he
United Nations "to do its best to
unite the Soviet Union and China" ;
and offered to take over the lead–
ership of the British Commonwealth
from Oueen Elizabeth.
Amín has also claimed that he is
"capable of commanding not only
the African troops, but also those of
Asia, Europe, and the Arab world ."
His chest full of medals, in–
cidentally, is primarily the result of
the awards he has made to himself.
According to Amin , "People like
me very much. All the Arab leaders
love to hear me speak.
1
am the
most important leader in Africa.
Everybody listens." The real pic–
ture, needless to say, is much dif–
ferent. A number of African heads
of state have privately let it be
known that they would support a
coup against him. Others have said
they wouldn't oppose the idea. lt is
interesting to note that Amin 's pri–
mary foreign support comes from
equally eccentric dictator Muammar
Khadafy of Libya.
The t ragic record of Amin's rule
vividly illustrates the truth of an ob–
servation made nearly 3,000 years
ago by King Solomon of ancient
Israel: "When the righteous are in
authority, the people rejoice: but
when the wicked beareth rule, the
people mourn " (Proverbs 29 :2).
For the sake of the people of
Uganda, it is hoped that the man
who will eventually succeed Amin
wi ll be able to reverse the nation's
slide into oblivion and undo sorne
of the damage wreaked upon its
people by his despotism.
o
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