Idi Amin, the head of Uganda Armed Forces, came to power in February 1971 in a relatively bloodless coup d’etat while President Milton was attending a Commonwealth Leaders Conference in Singapore.

The initial euphoria demonstrated in the streets by Ugandans was more a measure of the popularity of Obote’s and that of his one-party state than a vote of confidence in Amin’s very limited abilities. His astounding ignorance of the rule of law and how to govern a nation and enhance the wellbeing of its peoples only came to light incrementally. It was only exceeded by his ready willingness to eliminate anybody who stood in his way.

In the first 18 months of his absolute rule there was no indication of any problem with the Asian Community per se and there was no known conflict or public scandal that might have explained the bombshell he dropped on the 5th August 1972.

On that day in 1972 the lives of all the people living in Uganda were radically changed some for the better others for the worse.