Love him or hate him, but Amin was efficient

Let me tell you what is in the book that I am not going to write. Titled Uganda@50, the book shall not be published by Fountain Publishers to mark our Independence Golden Anniversary on October 9, 2012. You see, we are soon entering the final year to the big day, and I should be starting on the book now, but I will not.

Writing these little books to mark important landmark anniversaries was becoming a habit that I have decided to kick. In 1990, I did Kampala at 100 , which only a few hundred people read and the sponsor, KCC, gave away most copies free of charge. Then in 2002, I did How To Be a Ugandan to mark our 40th Independence anniversary. Fountain Publishers tells me it is one of the country’s best selling non-school books.

For our 50th independence anniversary, I have decided not to write Uganda@50 for reasons of bias. For when the story of modern Uganda is finally objectively written, the most memorable character will be Field Marshall Idi Amin. And since I do not want to be misunderstood, I shall not write the story of Uganda at 50. Maybe when someone writes Uganda@100 when I am long dead, the truth that Idi Amin shaped the character of modern Uganda more than anybody else will be more palatable. After all, by then the youngest survivors of the Amin years will be in their mid-eighties.

Nobody who came before or after Amin will be remembered more than him by the time Uganda turns 100. Amin is there in the very fabric of this society and he lives on in the actions of our public officials. There is a saying that imitation is the highest form of compliment (and admiration). Many people try to do the things the way they were done in the Amin model, but because his was the original, the imitations can never be as perfect .

Look at the religious leaders who praise politicians for instance. Amin had a group of Catholic priests who even had military ranks, and their main duty was to lead prayers for good health and fortunes of the president.

Every night as the only radio station UBC was closing, the last item on the programme line-up was a lengthy prayer by a Reverend Father Captain So-and-So who would plead with God to make Ugandans love their president and shun his detractors. Today’s patriotic pastors are just imitating the military reverends.

When the mostly Kenya-Tanzania differences broke up the East African Community, Amin quickly made strategic investments to protect the interests of our landlocked country. These included The Flying Crane with a fleet of over a dozen aircraft carrying the flag, passengers and goods over half the world. Post-Amin transport ministers have grappled with the issue of Uganda’s access to the outside world, without significant success. A national airline would be crucial for a centrally located country to become the natural gateway to the rest of the region and to sell fresh tropical farm produce to Europe and the Middle East. But wapi! No transport minister since 1979 has matched Amin s standards.

The book Uganda@50 would have a chapter on the 1975 OAU summit and how it was prepared. One highlight would be the procurement for the conversion of Uganda Television to colour in time for the summit. Readers of Uganda@50 would get to know how President Amin drove to UTV Nakasero and asked the manager on duty if it was possible to upgrade the station to colour transmission in the remaining few weeks.

They would read how the manager was given 24 hours to come up with the quotations and procurement logistical requirements using telex; even fax was not yet available then.
My readers would learn how the next day Amin gave the manager the presidential jet to fly to Germany, with the president’s trusted assistant to handle the money. All the while, the UTV man was in command of UPF (presidential flight call sign) until they returned with the goods and technicians to ensure the national TV went colour before the big event.

Readers of Uganda@50 would of course be more familiar with the muddled-up digital migration that is still defeating the country’s broadcasting brains, other procurement landmarks like the Chogm fleet of five-year-old BMWs bought outside Germany at astronomical prices, the million dollar LC bicycles from India that never were and national ID project still gasping in confusion. They would see that in spite of his faults, Amin was in many respects more efficient that most Ugandans.

Now you can see why my Uganda@50 shall not be written.
buwembo@gmail.com