1971 Ugandan coup

d'état

The 1971 Ugandan coup d'état was a military coup d'état executed by the Ugandan military,
led by general Idi Amin, against the government of President Milton Obote on 25 January
1971. The seizure of power took place while Obote was abroad attending the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting in Singapore.[7] Amin was afraid that Obote might dismiss
him, and installed himself as dictator.

The 1971 coup is often cited as an example of "class action by the military", wherein the
Uganda Army acted against "an increasingly socialist regime whose egalitarian domestic
politics posed more and more of a threat to the military's economic privileges".[8]

Background
A rift had developed between Amin and Obote, exacerbated by the support Amin had built
within the army by recruiting from the West Nile region, his involvement in operations to
support the rebellion in southern Sudan and an attempt on Obote's life in 1969. In October
1970, Obote took overall control of the armed forces, reducing Amin from his position of
commander in chief of all the armed forces to that of commander in chief of the army.[5]

The Obote government pursued a policy of African nationalism, which antagonized the British
and the Israeli governments—both of which maintained a strong presence in Uganda. Obote
supported various independence movements in Southern Africa and opposed British
weapons sales to the Apartheid South
African government, attending the
Commonwealth Heads of Government 1971 Ugandan
Meeting 1971 in order to address this
issue.[9] The British government was also coup d'état
opposed to Obote's Move to the Left, a
series of socialist-orientated policies that
hindered the operations of international
Part of the Cold War
corporations; in addition, the British
government feared that these initiatives
would provoke the departure of the Asian
Date 25 Janua
community in Uganda, who were British
subjects and would likely emigrate the
1971
United Kingdom, a possibility the UK
government was unprepared for.[10]
Location Uganda
Israel initially maintained close relations
Coup Successful
with Obote's government, and used Uganda
Result
as a means to channel support to Anyanya
rebels in southern Sudan with the hope of
Overth
distracting Sudan from supporting
Palestine in the Arab–Israeli conflict. In Milton
1969 Jaafar Nimeiry came to power in
Sudan via a coup and pledged to end the Establi
war in the country. Obote summarily
ordered the end of all aid to the Anyanya, of the S
troubling the Israeli government.[10]
Repub
Causes of the Ugand
Idi Am
military
coup in Belligerents
Ugandan Ugandan
government putschists
Uganda in Loyal Rebel
state military
1971
institutio Rebel
Having learned that Obote was planning to ns police
arrest him for misappropriating army
funds, Amin launched a coup on 25
Supporte
January 1971, while Obote was attending a
Commonwealth summit meeting in
by:
Singapore. Army and military police forces
loyal to Amin moved to secure strategic
positions in and around Kampala and
United
Entebbe.[11] The putschists sealed off
Entebbe International Airport to prevent
Kingdom
Obote's return, and tanks and soldiers
patrolled the streets of Kampala and
Israel[2
Entebbe. Here, some soldiers loyal to
President Obote and members of the Commanders and
General Service Unit resisted the coup
forces while some fighting also took place
at the Kampala police college.[5] Fierce
leaders
fighting was reported in Jinja, about 80
kilometres (50 mi) from Kampala. Obote's Milton Idi Amin
residence was surrounded and major
roads were blocked. A nighttime curfew Obote (Comman
was imposed by the coup forces.[12]
Overall, the Obote loyalists were too (President der of the
disorganized to offer an effective
resistance, and they were quickly of army)
overwhelmed.[11] At 4:30pm it was
announced that the Army and the police Uganda) Erinayo
under Amin's leadership had control of the
entire country.[5] Basil Kiiza Wilson
Bataringay Oryema[3
Some historians have written that the
British government may have been
involved in orchestrating the coup. Obote
a [3] (Inspecto
was a supporter of independence
movements in Southern Africa and chose
to attend the Commonwealth Heads of (Minister general o
Government Meeting 1971 to oppose
British weapons sales to the Apartheid of Internal police)
South African government.[13] The decision
was taken at the meeting to allow the Affairs) Juma
British government to proceed with the
arms sale, but the issue threatened to split Ahmad Butabika[
apart the Commonwealth.[14]
Oduka [3] Isaac
Uganda radio broadcasts accused the
Obote government of corruption and said (Senior Maliyamu
the army believed Obote's policies result in
violence and accused him of giving
superinten gu[4]
preferential treatment to certain regions of
the country. The broadcast was reportedly
dent of
met with cheering crowds in the capital.[12]
After having seized control of the
police)
government, Amin moved to purge the
military of political rivals, and ordered the
murder of Acholi and Lango soldiers whom
Suleiman
he suspected of being supportive of Obote.
By 1972, about 5,000 of them had been
Hussein
killed.[6] [3]

Aftermath Strength
Unknown 5,700
As he consolidated his power as military
dictator, Amin ordered numerous purges soldiers;
against suspected opponents, resulting in
30,000 to 50,000 Ugandans killed over the
5,500
years following the coup. Thousands
consequently fled to Tanzania, where they
joined Obote's dissidents. With the
approval of President of Tanzania Julius
Nyerere, these Ugandan exiles formed a policemen
small guerilla army, and invaded Uganda in [5]
1972. The popular uprising against Amin
they had hoped for failed to materialize,
however, and the invasion was defeated.
Nevertheless, the conflict resulted in a
Casualties and
sharp deterioration of relations between
Uganda and Tanzania, which ultimately losses
contributed to the Uganda–Tanzania War
and the fall of Amin's regime in 1979.[15]
Many Unknown
Acohli and
In popular
Lango
culture soldiers
murdered
The film Rise [6]

and Fall of Idi

Amin opens with the coup occurring
while Dr. Michael Oloya (Thomas
Baptiste) is performing surgery, and is
portrayed as violent. Despite the
gunfire happening outside, Oloya
continues the operation, saying, "This
patient will not be his first casualty!"
Immediately afterward, Amin (Joseph
Olita) is shown in a military parade,
cheered on by the Ugandan people.
British and French diplomats show
their open support for him, stating
there is "more than enough socialist
nonsense running around the rest of
the world."
In the film Last King of Scotland, the
coup is portrayed as popular, with
Amin as being "for the people". The
coup is supported by the British.
Opponents of Amin are described as
being "Obote's men".
See also

Uganda under Idi Amin

References

1. "Revealed: How Israel helped Amin to take

power" (https://www.independent.co.uk/n
ews/world/africa/revealed-how-israel-hel
ped-amin-to-take-power-100683.html) .
Independent.co.uk. 16 August 2003.
2. "Revealed: How Israel helped Amin to take
power" (https://www.independent.co.uk/n
ews/world/africa/revealed-how-israel-hel
ped-amin-to-take-power-100683.html) .
Independent.co.uk. 16 August 2003.
3. Oduka, Rashid; Oduka, Ali (14 October
2012). Mwenda, Andrew M. (ed.). "Saving
president Obote" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20210411043740/https://www.indep
endent.co.ug/saving-president-obote) .
The Independent (Uganda). Kampala,
Uganda: The Independent Publications,
Uganda. Archived from the original (http
s://www.independent.co.ug/saving-presid
ent-obote) on 11 April 2021. Retrieved
3 June 2021.
4. Watuwa Timbiti (12 February 2015).
"Luwum murder: What witnesses said" (ht
tps://web.archive.org/web/20190330121
227/https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vi
sion/news/1320718/luwum-murder-witne
sses) . New Vision. Archived from the
original (https://www.newvision.co.ug/ne
w_vision/news/1320718/luwum-murder-
witnesses) on 30 March 2019. Retrieved
18 December 2018.
5. "General Idi Amin overthrows Ugandan
government" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20070225004054/http://www.britishco
uncil.org/learnenglish-central-history-ami
n.htm) . British Council. 2 February 1971.
Archived from the original (http://www.brit
ishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-history
-amin.htm) on 25 February 2007.
Retrieved 8 August 2009.
6. Cooper & Fontanellaz (2015), p. 6.
7. Hebditch, David; Ken Connor (2005). How
to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to
Execution. London: Greenhill Books.
p. 128. ISBN 1-85367-640-3.
 8. Lofchie, Michael F. (May 1972). "The
Uganda Coup—Class Action by the
Military". The Journal of Modern African
Studies. 10 (1): 19–35 [.
doi:10.1017/S0022278X00022072 (http
s://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0022278X00022
072) . JSTOR 159819 (https://www.jstor.o
rg/stable/159819) . S2CID 154886163 (ht
tps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:1
54886163) .
9. Mutibwa, Phares (1992). Uganda since
Independence, A Story of Unfulfilled
Hopes. Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A.: Africa
World Press. pp. 73–76. ISBN 0-86543-
357-7.
10. Avirgan & Honey 1983, p. 9.
11. Cooper & Fontanellaz (2015), p. 11.
12. "1971: Idi Amin ousts Uganda president"
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/date
s/stories/january/25/newsid_2506000/25
06423.stm) . BBC. 1971. Retrieved 4 June
2018.
13. Mutibwa, Phares (1992). Uganda since
Independence A Story of Unfulfilled
Hopes. Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A.: Africa
World Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-86543-357-7.
14. "BBC On This Day" (http://news.bbc.co.u
k/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/23/
newsid_2795000/2795585.stm) . BBC. 23
January 1971. Retrieved 25 February
2021.
15. Cooper & Fontanellaz (2015), pp. 6–7, 11.
Works cited

Avirgan, Tony; Honey, Martha (1983).

War in Uganda: The Legacy of Idi Amin.
Dar es Salaam: Tanzania Publishing
House. ISBN 978-9976-1-0056-3.
Cooper, Tom; Fontanellaz, Adrien
(2015). Wars and Insurgencies of
Uganda 1971–1994. Solihull: Helion &
Company Limited. ISBN 978-1-910294-
55-0.

Further reading

Aldrich, Harriet (July 2020). "Uganda,

Southern Sudan and the Idi Amin
Coup". The Journal of Imperial and
 Commonwealth History. 48 (6): 1109–
1139.
doi:10.1080/03086534.2020.1765530
(https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0308653
4.2020.1765530) . S2CID 219915868
(https://api.semanticscholar.org/Corp
usID:219915868) .

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