Milton Obote, Uganda

In 1971, Uganda’s post-independence leader Milton Obote was overthrown by Idi Amin. Ottawa passively supported a putsch backed by London and Washington. A British Foreign Office memo noted that Obote’s nationalizations, which also included Canadian-based Bata Shoes and Falconbridge, had “serious implications for British business in Uganda and Africa generally… other countries will be tempted to try and get away with similar measures with more damaging consequences for British investment and trade.”

On three occasions during the early days of the coup (between January 26 and February 3) the Pierre Trudeau government responded to inquiries from opposition MPs about developments in Uganda and whether Canada would grant diplomatic recognition to the new regime. Within a week of Obote’s ouster, both External Minister Mitchell Sharp and Prime Minister Trudeau passed up these opportunities to denounce Amin’s usurpation of power. They remained silent as Amin suspended various provisions of the Ugandan Constitution and declared himself President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Army Chief of Staff and Chief of Air Staff. They failed to condemn a leader now infamous for plunging the nation into a torrent of violence.

In African Pearls and Poisons: Idi Amin’s Uganda; Kenya; Zaire’s Pygmies (2013), Alberta bureaucrat Leo Louis Jacques describes a conversation he had with the Canadian International Development Agency liaison officer in Uganda who facilitated his 1971-73 appointment to the Uganda College of Commerce. Asked whether the change in government would affect his CIDA-funded position, the aid agency’s liaison officer in Uganda, Catrina Porter, answered Jacques: “Yes, there was a coup on January 25th, 1971 and it was a move that promises to be an improvement. The new administration favours Democracy and Western Civilization’s Democracy, while the former one favoured the Communists.” Jacques then asked, “I understand the present government is being run by the Ugandan army under the control of a General named Idi Amin Dada. What is he like?’” Porter replied, “General Amin’s gone on record as saying he loves Canada and the Commonwealth. He also vowed that his country of Uganda would have democratic elections soon. The British and Americans have recognized him as the Ugandan government and so do we.”