Oh, what a world we live in … now they want an Idi Amin tourism trail
The trails and tribulations of boss who thinks Amin is ‘most popular’
Leigh G Banks remembers a short interview with one of the world’s biggest despots…
Welcome to the asylum! The day I spoke to Idi Amin, he laughed down the phone at me. In fact he barely stopped laughing.
It was almost like Madman’s Therapy – a booming voice that could blow a Gold-Crested Crane out of a bambuwa tree.
But it was the constant faux-affable bar-room laughter that got to me as I sat on the newsdesk of a leading daily and tried to fire a quick question in.
One eventually slipped between the guffaws: “President Amin, is it true you like to torture people?”
He howled like a broken bell.
“President Amin, why do starve people for weeks then electrocute them in chambers below your palace?”
He wasn’t unnerved by my question: “There are many things told to people about me that have never happened…”
And then he laughed out loud again.
Idi Amin’s was a tin-pot and mad murderous regime. More than 300,000 people died horrifically.
He liked having people tortured.
So, he had real chambers of horror built in his palace grounds. Thousands up on thousands were executed while he had noisy dinner parties with his accolites.
The chamber floors were flooded with water. The victims, blindfolded, would cross the chamber in boats as music played from hidden speakers.
The boat moored, the victims got off, the lights went out and the music stopped.
The water was electrified.
Each chamber held more than 500 people. Idi could have a bit of a laugh while he decided if they would be left to starve to death or be zombied by electric water.
Okay, things have changed a lot in Rwanda since the mid-1970s and Idi Amin is barely a blot on the world’s landscape any more.
But his circus of sour will never be forgotten.
Particular if Stephen Asiimwe has his way.
This man, Stephen Asiimwe, the chief executive of Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). wants an Idi Amin tourism trail … he says: “Idi Amin is the most popular Ugandan ever but no one is making use of him. We have to develop this trail.”
The proposal announced by Asiimwe, wants to see the awful legacy of Idi Amin turned into an attractive and profitable tourism trail. He claims it will be as popular as the holocaust museum in Germany or next-door neighbours Rwanda Genocide.
He also wants trails in Imbalu carnival, Kampala carnival and some schools.
“In June we hope everybody participates in the Uganda Martyrs trail. We have cut Uganda into clusters – a sustainable domestic domain is critical for development.”
Chief executive Asiimwe said that the ministry of finance was giving £1.5m to the project.
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