Nairobi Days

In August 1972, Idi Amin announced on T.V. that he was expelling all the South Asians who were British Citizens, sixty thousand of them. They had exactly ninety days to leave the country. Later he said all Asians, even the thirty thousand who were Ugandan Citizens, had to leave as well. They would not be compensated for their property. There were echoes of Hitler’s speeches against the Jews in Nazi Germany. Amin claimed God had told him to do this in a dream.

Rumors abounded that he had noticed a beautiful, married Hindu woman at a Government function. There were endless, boring speeches and rows of dignitaries sitting in a shady tent. The woman had long, black hair and was wearing a chiffon sari that drew attention to her curves as she sat next to her bald husband in the second row. He was a rich Indian businessman who owned sugar mills. There were many attractive women there, but it is said Amin couldn’t take his eyes off the voluptuous woman in the blue sari. Through an intermediary, he asked her to come and spend the night at his palace. The woman’s terrified family smuggled her out of the country and sent her to England in a few hours. The whole family left soon after, as well. Amin was furious when he discovered his prize had fled and that he had been defied.

“All I wanted was one woman, one woman for a few nights and those Indi- and. Those stupid muhindi couldn’t give her to me. I would have sent her back when I had finished with her. I didn’t want to keep her, and I knew she was married. They have no respect for me,” he reportedly said invoking the antiquated idea of droit de seigneur associated with feudal lords as if it applied to him.

The Indians had been in Uganda for generations. Most of them had never even been to India. They were born in Uganda and expected to live out their days in its sunshine and plenty. Some of the Indians were wealthy businessman who owned Ugandan sugar mills, coffee farms, factories, and hotels, but the majority had small businesses, little dukaas scattered all over the country. Although they lived in small, dusty places like Mabale, Mengo, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Busia, Gulu, and Kabale they were entrepreneurial and saw promise in what Uganda could achieve. The dukaas sold basic groceries and sundries to the African villagers. Most of the country-side Indians spoke Acholi or Luganda and Hindi or Gujarati. They knew only a little English and had never been outside Uganda. Even Kampala was too big and busy for them, and now they were expected to move to cities in the West. There were many professional doctors, teachers, nurses, and social workers who were dedicated to serving the people of rural Uganda, and the country desperately needed them, but they were being deported as well.