Quotes: Idi Amin Dada

Quotations from the President of Uganda 1971–1979

President Idi Amin

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Idi Amin was the president of Uganda between 25 Jan 1971 to 13 April 1979, and he is widely considered one of the most brutal leaders in the history of the world. He is estimated to have tortured, killed, or imprisoned somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 of his opponents.

According to a Sunday Times of 27 July 2003 entitled "A Clown Drenched in Brutality," Amin gave himself several titles throughout his reign, including His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji, Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.

The Idi Amin quotes listed below were taken from books, newspapers, and magazines reporting on his speeches, interviews, and telegrams to other state officials.

1971–1974

"I am not a politician but a professional soldier. I am, therefore, a man of few words and I have been brief through my professional career."
Idi Amin, president of Uganda, from his first speech to the Ugandan nation in January 1971.

"Germany is the place where when Hitler was the prime minister and supreme commander, he burned over six million Jews. This is because Hitler and all German people knew that Israelis are not people who are working in the interest of the world and that is why they burned the Israelis alive with gas in the soil of Germany."
Idi Amin, president of Uganda, part of a telegram sent to Kurt Waldheim, UN Secretary-General, and Golda Meir, Israeli premier, on 12 Sept 1972.

"I am the hero of Africa."
Idi Amin, president of Uganda, as quoted in Newsweek 12 March 1973.

"While wishing you a speedy recovery from the Watergate affair, may I, Excellency, assure you of my highest respect and regard."
President Idi Amin of Uganda, message to U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, on July 4, 1973, as reported in The New York Times, 6 July 1973.

1975–1979

"Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking. I never had any formal education—not even nursery school certificate. But, sometimes I know more than Ph.D.'s because as a military man I know how to act, I am a man of action."
Idi Amin as quoted in Thomas and Margaret Melady's Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa, Kansas City, 1977.

"I do not want to be controlled by any superpower. I myself consider myself the most powerful figure in the world, and that is why I do not let any superpower control me."
Idi Amin, president of Uganda, as quoted in Thomas and Margaret Melady's Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa, Kansas City, 1977.

"Like the Prophet Mohammed, who sacrificed his life and his property for the good of Islam, I am ready to die for my country."
From Radio Uganda and attributed to Idi Amin in 1979, as reported in "Amin, Living by the Gun, Under the Gun, " The New York Times, 25 March 1979.

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Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "Quotes: Idi Amin Dada." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/quotes-idi-amin-dada-43591. Boddy-Evans, Alistair. (2023, April 5). Quotes: Idi Amin Dada. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/quotes-idi-amin-dada-43591 Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "Quotes: Idi Amin Dada." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/quotes-idi-amin-dada-43591 (accessed March 28, 2024).