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President Yoweri Museveni has disclosed a previously unrevealed facet of the resistance against the regime of Idi Amin Dada, explaining why he rejected a proposal to use foreign mercenaries for an assassination.
Speaking at a public event in Jinja on Friday, President Museveni expressed disdain for the suggestion, which he said, reflected the lack of confidence in Africans at the time.
“When we were fighting, I went to Nairobi and to Europe and some people came to me with a proposal to hire Israelis to kill Idi Amin. You cannot believe it. These were educated people wearing suits and ties. It is like a sickness.”
President Yoweri Museveni
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The Ideological Rejection of Assassination
Museveni said he rejected the idea outright, not only on moral grounds but also based on a political strategy of ensuring sustainable change.
“I told them, first of all; we do not believe in assassinations, we shall uproot Idi Amin, lock, stock, and barrel.”
He added that his fear at the time was in creating a power vacuum that could be filled by another brutal and unstable figure.
He cited the fear of having successors like Brigadier Isaac Maliyamungu—one of Amin’s most notorious and brutal military officers—emerge in the aftermath of a sudden, chaotic assassination.
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Amin's History of Escaping Attempts
During his 8 year rule, numerous attempts on Amin's life were documented.
Opposition groups such as the Save Uganda Movement (SUM) attempted to overthrow him through guerrilla warfare, which included bombings and assassination bids.
A notable attempt occurred on 10th June 1976, when an unidentified person threw a grenade at Amin's car. While Amin survived, the attack claimed his driver's life.
Other conspiracies, like 'Operation Mafuta Mingi' in 1977, involved dissident Ugandan soldiers and pilots who sought to overthrow the government.
The dictator himself, who seemed to possess an uncanny ability to anticipate threats, once proudly claimed to have survived at least nine separate attempts on his life
Uprooting the Regime Completely
Ultimately, the downfall of Idi Amin came not through assassination but, as President Museveni advocated, through military force and external intervention.
The Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–1979, prompted by Amin’s invasion of Tanzanian territory, led to a crushing defeat by the Tanzanian People's Defence Force (TPDF) alongside Ugandan liberation forces.
This allowed the regime to be uprooted completely, forcing Amin to flee into exile in April 1979, fulfilling the promise of a complete overthrow rather than a quick, risky decapitation strike.