Word: amins
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Things have not been going particularly well in Uganda lately. On top of the steady deterioration of the economy and continuing strife within the army, two of President Idi ("Big Daddy") Amin Dada's top civilian ministers turned up in Kenya within the past fortnight. Shortly afterward, Amin announced that he was giving the rest of his Cabinet a month's vacation-presumably a prelude to a major shakeup. "A human being is a human being," Big Daddy explained, "and like a car he needs refueling and fresh air after working for a long time...
Last week Amin offered another surprise. He suddenly invited a small group of foreign correspondents in Africa-including TIME'S Nairobi Bureau Chief Lee Griggs-to Kampala for a one-day visit that included a rare interview with the Ugandan dictator. Griggs' report...
...office safes to get at records. Many of the new proprietors still do not know how to reorder goods. And new orders will not be shipped by suppliers without cash in hand, but Uganda's import laws specify cash only on delivery. It remains to be seen whether Amin can step up his lagging policy of mafuta mingi (Swahili for fattening up) by forcing the banks to offer non-secured loans to shopkeepers so they can reorder...
There is a shortage of such staples as sugar, salt and soap, but Kampala appeared calm. Amin still seems to be popular with most Ugandans, who attribute the sporadic killings by the army to dirty work done by subordinates without his knowledge. Since 80% of the country's 10 million people live as subsistence farmers more or less outside the cash economy, the threat of a commercial collapse in the capital does not worry Amin inordinately. The coffee and cotton crops are earning foreign exchange, and Uganda's hard-currency position seems to be strong enough to permit...
...Amin received the press on the beautifully clipped green lawn of State House in Entebbe. He spoke softly and slowly, sometimes gesturing with the immense hands that once made him Uganda's heavyweight boxing champion. (He is 6 ft. 3 in. tall and weighs about 260 lbs.) "What I am doing," Amin insisted, "is what the people of Uganda want. Nobody today controls Uganda but Ugandans." The country was temporarily closed to tourism, said Big Daddy, until he could train his people in how to behave toward foreigners. "In future, Uganda will be one of the friendliest nations...