Uganda in the 1970s: a decade of paradoxes and ambiguities

This article reprises the author's 1977 essay on ethnicity and military governance in Idi Amin's Uganda. In its rhetoric, the Amin regime was committed to the singular goal of allaying ethnic conflict. But in practice, the Amin years were marked by contractions and by often rapid shifts in policy. In the military the Amin years saw the elevation of the president's compatriots and the marginalization of Ganda and other competitors. In religious life, Amin encouraged the consolidation of ecclesiastic hierarchy, banning dissident sects and elevating Catholic, Anglican and orthodox Muslim leaders. In the economy, Amin nationalized Asian-owned businesses and launched an economic war, but was unable to provide basic goods and services to Uganda's citizenry. Ideology had little role to play in shaping Uganda's politics. The tensions between rhetoric and practice made the Amin regime into a paradox.