The expulsion of Ugandan Asians was a shameful chapter- Museveni
President Museveni has said that the expulsion of Asians from Uganda by former President Idi Amin Dada in 1972 was a very shameful chapter in the history of the nation and completely unforgettable.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Museveni said that this week has been sobering to reflect on the ties that bind Britain and Uganda, especially now that is 50 years ago since Asians expelled in Uganda were taken in by Britain.
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“Some 50,000 Ugandan Indians who had known nowhere but Uganda as their homeland were made to abandon their country to begin lives anew elsewhere. Some fled to neighbouring Kenya, others to Canada. Most left for the UK. The businesses, possessions and lands they left behind were confiscated,” Museveni said.
“We must never forget this forced expulsion and shameful chapter of Uganda’s past: a warning from history to the world of what can transpire when there are no checks or democratic balances on the whims of those who hold positions of power,” he added.
Museveni after taking power in 1986, welcomed back the Asian community and returned their properties.
“We consider what we nearly lost, and what together our two countries can now gain,” Museveni maintains.
Museveni castigated Amin for running a state through dreams. He claims that Amin reached a decision to expel Asians from Uganda of a dream he had had overnight.
He insists that Amin had not had such a dream but he was acting on impulse emanating from pressure because he was a “fearful and paranoid man”.
