The expulsion of Asians
When
Amin came to power, the Asian issue was debated. On September 7, 1971
over 200 Asian representatives from all districts in Uganda turned up
at International Conference Centre on General Amin's order. Amin had
directed that delegations of ten Asians from every district attend a
conference chaired by the Minister of defence, Oboth Ofumbi, to discuss
causes of strained relationship between Asians and Africans.
The Asians had been accused of denying the indigenous people
opportunities to progress and not mixing sexually with Africans. They
denied both accusations and explained that their cultural backgrounds
and inherent taboos restricted them from sexual interaction with the
indigenous people.
President Amin challenged Asians to tell the government of how they
would end malpractices that plagued their relationship with Ugandans.
Amin sighted the malpractices such as refusal to intermarry with
indigenous Ugandans, abuse of Uganda's exchange control regulations,
undervaluing imports, smuggling commodities and hoarding goods to
create scarcity.
He also accused them of sabotaging government policy by renting shops
to African traders but retaining backrooms, toilets and cooking
facilities. He put much emphasis on Asians not letting their children
interact with Africans.
The dust had not settled over the complete expulsion of Israelis when
Amin came up with another bombshell on 2nd September 1972. When
addressing a rally in Tororo he revealed that God had instructed him
through a dream to expel all the Asians within 3 months.
The Scheme of the Asian expulsion is also termed as the economic war.
Amin had earlier assured Ugandans who attended a rally at Makerere
University Kampala that he was going to create "Black Millionaires" in
Uganda.
National Movements and New States in Africa