I was closely involved with this operation. Obote and I had a personal radio link with Amin. Ours was code- named “Sparrow”; Amin’s was “Kisu.” The rebels often came to Entebbe, stayed in Amin’s house, and saw Obote. Their greatest need was for arms and transport. They had no cash, but they did have truckloads of gold and ivory, seized as they retreated from towns they had once controlled. Amin, as the rebel’s contact man, sold their gold and ivory and bought arms for them.
This was a considerable operation which revealed for the first time Amin’s chief characteristics. To me, he was always charming and easy to work with, but he also displayed a ruthless practicality, individuality and enterprise. For the first time 1 saw the effects of his particular intelligence which enabled him to snatch any advantage unconsciously offered and turn it to his own benefit.
In Amin’s dealings with the Congolese gold and ivory, no records were ever kept. The goods came by truck to his house. He did not have to account for what he sold. He simply began to bank for himself very large sums, regularly and in cash—up to 300,000 shillings at a time— amounting to something like a million dollars in all. He also kept large amounts in his house to avoid undue publicity. (A few days before my wedding in 1965, he pulled about 2,000 shillings from his pocket and gave it to me as a wedding present.)
News of his sudden wealth began to leak out. His account at the Ottoman Bank was photocopied and handed out in Parliament by an M P, Daudi Ocheng, who demanded an inquiry. A debate followed, and the inquiry was authorized. Soon afterward, however, Obote seized control of the government, arrested five ministers, four of whom supported the charges against Amin, suspended the Constitution, fired the Kabaka and assumed his title of President. The inquiry would clearly have embarrassed Obote. He persuaded some of the Congolese rebels, who were in exile in Uganda, to speak on Amin’s behalf and exonerate him.
For the second time, Obote had saved the man who was eventually to overthrow him. He did so because, at the time, Amin seemed indispensable. He was needed for the showdown that was clearly at hand between the Kabaka and Obote. Amin was still only deputy commander, but Opolot had by this time married a member of the Buganda royal family, and Obote would never trust him again. Amin was therefore the President’s only hope.
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