Big Daddy Idi 1999

[Guest guest]

Johannesburg, South Africa. February 19, 1999

An audience with Big Daddy Idi

 

In his first in-depth interview with a Ugandan newspaper in a decade,

Idi Amin talks about exile, politics, Yoweri Museveni ... and food

and motor-racing.

 

.....still brags about the number of friends he has worldwide,

especially in Arab countries. But now, he says, he avoids his old US

friends like Louis Farrakhan, who leads the Nation of Islam, because

of his movement's anti-US government policies. And, again unlike in

his olden days, Amin avoids making negative comments about the US and

Britain — he does not want to "mess with a superpower".

 

 

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By YUNUSU ABBEY of the New Vision, Kampala

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A GOOD Samaritan in Jeddah had given me that long sought-after

journalistic prize: Idi Amin's current telephone number. At about

11am Saudi time, I telephoned the former Ugandan dictator's home. The

phone rang for two minutes, but the only response I got was a fax

tone. So I sent him a fax, with my full particulars and address.

Unexpectedly, later in the day at about 4.30 pm, I received a call in

my hotel room. As soon as I picked up the receiver a deep voice

said: "Hello, can I speak to Yunusu Abbey?" Knowing the voice to be

that of "Big Daddy", I trembled and answered back in shaky

tones: "Speaking, sir." He immediately switched to Swahili and talked

politely. "Habari gani. Habari ya siku mingi [How are you? Long time

no see ... ]." Later Amin called again to tell me he had checked me

out with "his people" in Kampala to establish that I was not a

Ugandan state agent: "They say they know you, the place you stay and

when you get home." We made arrangements to meet at the Shahen Hotel

in the centre of Jeddah where staff say he is a regular.

 

Amin's notorious figure is still easily recognisable. His dress style

might have changed — he's decked out in Muslim skullcap and snow-

white tunic, with large maroon boots — but otherwise he is still the

same tall, well-built and dark-skinned general of the 1970s. Although

he has no uniformed escorts or a pistol on his hip these days, he

still walks energetically, with the swagger of a bouncer. But now his

left leg limps slightly, and there are wrinkles above his bulging

cheeks. He looks well fed.

 

He extends a firm hand grip with its wide, former boxer's palm, and

we go off to talk, hidden in a corner on the second floor of the

building. In a move typical of his heyday, Amin tells me strictly not

to ask about his wife, children and family.

 

To punish the Ugandan media for running false stories that he eats

dozens of oranges a day, he refuses to have his photograph taken. He

talks endlessly, sipping orange juice and smiling as I ask about his

love of sport, Islam and the accordion he used to enjoy playing. But

he hardly gives me the chance to interject. He speaks the old-

fashioned army-style Swahili of Uganda in the Seventies, gesturing a

lot and shifting in his seat while illustrating a point. He points a

great deal with his right hand and, when he mentions God's name,

turns his face upwards.

 

The former president likes talking about food. He says he prefers

Ugandan-grown food. He reveals that he gets most of his supplies from

Uganda, particularly cassava and millet flour (his favourite dish

these days is goat meat with millet bread). His contacts in Uganda

send him the flour from his home town of Koboko. His latest wife, who

has just had a baby, also has matooke (green banana) sent from

Masaka. The food parcels from Uganda are ferried through Nairobi or

London. Sources say he is always on hand at King Abdulazizi

International airport to receive them personally.

 

Amin has now moved from his former house near Jeddah city centre to a

more exclusive area. His new residence, in an area mainly occupied by

powerful oil sheikhs, is about 8km from the Jeddah city centre. Amin

says that during his leisure time, which is most of the time, he

recites the Qur'an, reads books, plays his old accordion. He likes

playing a World War II song: "Neyagalira ono omutono wange eyava

mulutalo, neyagalira ono omutono wange eyava mulu talo [i love the

slender one from the war ...]." To show he still has a seductive

voice, he sings it for me.

 

He also goes swimming and fishing in the Red Sea shores near the

Saudi/Yemen border and watches TV. With his hefty monthly stipend

from the Saudi government, the ex-field marshal proudly talks about

the five satellite dishes installed at his new house.

 

A new hobby is fishing, which he has just taken up "because of the

delicious fish species in the Red Sea waters". The one-time

heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda still likes football, boxing

and tennis. He spends his free time glued to TV sports channels. He

also spends a great deal of time watching news programmes. His

favourite stations are CNN, BBC, Saudi TV Channel One, and Lebanese

and French TV stations. He boasts that he now speaks a number of

languages fluently, including Arabic, English, French and Lingala,

the Congolese language.

 

Nowadays, Amin usually drives a white Cadillac, although sources say

he has several cars. During the Seventies, he liked to drive in

rallies in his Maserati with Sarah, then the youngest of his wives.

He dislikes motor rallies now, he says, because "they cause death

through accidents".

 

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Asked about his favourite car today, he says the issue of cars is not

important. Pointing out of the window at a fleet of mainly United

States-made cars, he says: "These days there are so many models. I

can drive any type of car if I wanted."

 

Amin separated from Sarah more than 10 years ago. She now lives in

London where she runs a café. He still has fond memories of Kampala,

and misses his favourite "night grounds" where he used to go without

the public knowing, to meet only those he knows.

 

But further talk about Uganda makes him wear a grim face. His former

boxing team-mate Tom Kawere and ex-national soccer star Kalibbala are

among those he misses. He tells me to send his regards to Kawere,

saying that Amin misses him. He is grief-stricken when we talk about

some of his former officers, now dead from violence or old age.

 

Amin is reluctant to disclose his age, saying only that he was born

on "Eid Day" in the month of January, but declining to give the

year: "Let those who think they know my age better say whatever they

wish. They can say I am 60, 70 or 100 years old. Shauri yao. Mi si

fikiri [it's up to them. I am not bothered]."

 

The former Conqueror of the British Empire still brags about the

number of friends he has worldwide, especially in Arab countries. But

now, he says, he avoids his old US friends like Louis Farrakhan, who

leads the Nation of Islam, because of his movement's anti-US

government policies. And, again unlike in his olden days, Amin avoids

making negative comments about the US and Britain — he does not want

to "mess with a superpower".

 

He sounds well informed about world events and seems to be keenly

following what is happening in Uganda, the Great Lakes region and

other places. He dwells a lot on political issues, like the war in

Congo and the activities of rebels in northern Uganda.

 

He pours scorn on the current Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni —

saying he is bitter that the new government had taken or destroyed

five of his houses. "By now those houses would have earned me monthly

rent which would have helped my relatives in Uganda."

 

He cautions Museveni against constantly insulting him, warning that

he will offer special prayers which will bring misfortune on him. And

he attacks corruption, insisting that "unlike some African heads of

state, I never fled Uganda with any money and nor did I have any

business outside". He castigates Ugandan Muslim leaders who embezzled

millions of dollars meant for the construction of the mosques in

Uganda. When the late king Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia

visited Uganda in November 1972 (when Amin was the darling of the

Arab world), he donated funds for their construction.

 

Amin says he does not want to recall the 1979 liberation war which

toppled his government, referring to it as "history". He does not

blame anyone for his defeat. Instead he hails his army, mainly the

air force, for putting up a gallant fight against the Tanzanian

invaders. Although his soldiers had the potential to raze Kampala to

the ground before fleeing, he claims he discouraged them. "I ordered

the Uganda army to withdraw because a big number of people would have

died in the fighting. I did not want Africans to kill fellow

Africans."

 

-- The Mail & Guardian, February 19, 1999.