The Passport of Uganda’s Dictator Idi Amin from 1963
The Passport of Uganda’s Dictator Idi Amin from 1963
Sometimes I am truly astonished which items I get offered from readers. Here is another example of a very unusual passport…
What you see here is the 1963 Uganda passport of infamous Idi Amin as army officer in the rank of a Captain before he became the third president of Uganda ruling from 1971 to 1979.
Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King’s African Rifles, in 1946, serving in Kenya and Uganda. Eventually, Amin held the rank of major general in the post-colonial Ugandan Army, and became its commander before seizing power in the military coup of January 1971, deposing Milton Obote. He later promoted himself to field marshal while he was the head of state. Amin’s rule was characterized by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100,000 to 500,000.
This passport was offered to me from an African reader who told me he got it from Amin’s son. He is asking a high price so no deal yet. What will be the next exciting passport to come in? Time will tell and it’s indeed always exciting to review the many messages I receive. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not – that’s life.
The Last King of Scotland (2006), a film adaptation of Giles Foden’s 1998 novel of the same name. For his portrayal of Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker won the Academy Award, British Academy Film Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, thus becoming the fourth black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor. I do recommend this movie.
The Passport of Uganda’s Dictator Idi Amin from 1963
