Radical upheavals

In Uganda, there was worse to come. A notorious army general, Idi Amin Dada, who had become popular as an entertainer and as a boxer decided to turn his mind to politics and to do more important things. On one occasion, he opened his speech with words to the effect, “ I am different because I think” he told an audience at Makerere University, the foremost university in Africa. “ I can think,” he repeated. I was in the audience. Then Amin went on to add words to the effect.... “Now when I left home today, I did not know what I was going to say in this very speech, but I am now talking beautifully to you now because I can think” Amin said that he had immense confidence in his capabilities, a factor that put him above others. But what was most important was his ability to think on his feet.

Amin also showed a predisposition to manage Uganda by drawing his inspirations from his dreams. He is said to have reported that he had been visited by God and that only he had been told to take a few urgent actions. Some people explained these outbursts by referring to his increasing discomfort caused by syphilis. Others said that Amin had resorted to dealing with his demons by inventing a unique form of self healing and group therapy – he started to share his traumas publicly. Idi Amin soon expelled around 90,000 Asians after he had reported this dream.
Most East African Asians with relatively good backgrounds and skills made less than welcome career starts in the UK even though many of them were able to transfer their skills to a vast range of jobs and career opportunities. Those who joined the UK civil service had to accept lower level positions. Others worked in industry and commerce and were much valued owing to their experience, their good command of English and their business skills. A few of them progressed to senior supervisory and managerial positions but the majority of older East African Asians have been retiring in careers that they feel had not allowed them to achieve their full potential.