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Rising Through the Ranks
Idi Amin joined the King’s African Rifles also known as the Kar, a regiment of the British colonial army, and quickly rose through the ranks. He was deployed to Somalia in 1949 to fight the Shifta rebels and later fought with the British during the suppression of the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya. In 1959 he attained the rank of effendi which is the highest position for a black African soldier within the KAR and by 1966, he had been appointed commander of the armed forces. -
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Idi Amin's Ruling
Idi Amin staged a coup on January 25, 1971 while the current prime minister of Uganda, Milton Obote was on his way to Singapore. He forced Obote into exile and took over the Ugandan Government and during this time of his ruling he killed an estimated of up to 300,000 people. He saw Christian tribes as a threat and had them killed, terrorized the general population by using the police forces, and he expelled the Asian population in Uganda which was numbered between 50,000-70,000 people. -
Tanzanian Army Raids
The Tanzanian army came in and overthrew Idi Amin, forcing him into exile to Libya then Saudi Arabia where he then died of kidney failure.