Keeping Idi at bay

When Idi Amin announced the expulsion of the Asian community from Uganda the prospect of confronting Idi Amin on a collective basis was never considered. He was trigger happy and dangerous. The only thing one could predict about the man was that he was unpredictable. But it is also known that he had his own fears about many things.

This episode refers to Amin’s visit to a Sikh temple in Kampala. A few members of the Asian community had decided to remain behind even after the majority had left the country. Amin arrived at the temple and asked for the person in charge. People told Amin that the person he needed to see was the caretaker president of the temple and that he was praying at that precise moment. Amin decided to wait. The president’s prayers were soon interrupted by a rather terrified member of the community to inform him that Idi Amin had arrived at the temple. He was waiting downstairs. The president decided to continue and had no plans to interrupt his prayers. After sometime Idi Amin asked how long the prayer was going to take. People tried to calm him down. Amin became impatient and after a reported one hour he left in a huff.

Why did Idi Amin not harm the president of the temple? What was the purpose of his visit? There was some speculation that Amin had come that day to ask for the keys to the temple complex and that he had been talking of plans to turn the temple into a dance hall.