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Idi Amin Dada Oumee

The former dictatorial leader of Uganda from 1971-1979, Idi Amin has been called "One of the most batshit loco leaders ever to seize control of a chaotic African nation." (Actually, we call him that, but he's been called much worse.)

Other dictators might find their enemies to be targets, threats, or terror: Amin found them tasty: "After his coup of his predecessor, Apollo Milton Obote, Amin rounded up the military leaders that did not support his coup, murdered them, decapitated them and sat their disembodied heads around the presidential dining table, scolding them for not supporting him, and taking bites of their flesh."

Wracked by sexual diseases, almost totally illiterate (unable to write and barely able to read), and prone to marrying and divorcing multiple wives, Amin was not what one would call the most stabilizing force for the war-torn Uganda. However, as they were thrown into one small war to the next, the citizens could at least take heart that their leader was so many ants short of a picnic that he'd probably never turn on his own people... until he did. At one point, he gave all Asians in Uganda 90 days to leave, sans their businesses of course. Similar attacks against Christians, his wives' lovers and his own cabinet ensured that nobody came to him asking for advice on matters of the heart.

Of course, the most astounding fact about Amin is that after years of torture, military insurgency, mismanagement of Uganda's economy to the point of disaster, and deaths of over 300,000 of his own citizens, he was never incarcerated. He lived for years in exile in Saudi Arabia, where one newspaper reported that he ate "40 oranges a day" to keep up his "sex power".

Dada died in 2003, and is survived by four wives and 45 children.

Timeline

1894 Britain declares Uganda its protectorate.
c. 1924 Idi Amin Dada born.
1946 Joins the British colonial army.
1951 Wins the title of heavyweight boxing champion in Uganda.
1960 Amin is accused of torture, and loses his boxing title as a result.
1966 Amin formally marries his first wife, Malyamu. He has already fathered several illegitimate children by her.
Feb 1966 Parliament alledges that Amin has been stealing gold from Congo. Amin goes into hiding with his newly-married second wife, Kay Adroa.
1967 Marries Nora, a girl from President Apollo Milton Obote's tribe.
25 Jan 1971 Ousts Ugandan President Apollo Milton Obote in a coup.
Sep 1972 Marries his fourth wife, Madina, and divorces his previous three wives later that year. His second wife, Kay, would later die during an abortion; her body is discovered dismembered.
1975 Marries his fifth wife, Sarah.
Oct 1978 Invades the neighboring country of Tanzania. The invading army is repulsed, and Tanzania counter-invades.
11 Apr 1979 Idi Amin is overthrown by the invading Tanzanian army, supported by exiled Ugandan dissidents. He relocates to Libya and Iraq, eventually settling in Saudi Arabia, where he lives on a monthly stipend of $1500 provided by the government.
17 Aug 2003 Idi Amin Dada dies.

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