Uganda plans museum on Idi Amins atrocities
News & Trends •
read more18 in its plan to attract tourists the uganda government is building a war museum to showcase the darkest moments from its history including the atrocities of former president late idi amin1 we want to put the record straight uganda tourism board chief executive stephen asiimwe said1 history gets richer its like red wine it gets more interesting as the years go by mr asiimwe said1 he said that the project was not intended to be insensitive or voyeuristic1 i lived through the idi amin era as a young boy my fellow students lost their parents to the regime he said1 however you cannot run away from history. these are facts1 mr asiimwe said every destination has its own traditional culture and attractions1 in uganda we have wildlife mountain gorillas. but we are trying to retrace the past1 showcasing ugandas history would make the east african country a richer place for tourists to visit he added1 more recently ugandans have had to deal with the lra which has claimed to be fighting to install a government based on the biblical ten commandments1 atrocities committed under amins brutal eight-year rule and by the lords resistance army lra are to be documented1 its leader joseph kony is wanted for war crimes and the group continues to operate in northern democratic republic of congo and eastern central african republic1 he was the subject of the kony2012 social media campaign six years ago which detailed his alleged crimes. an online video became a viral sensation with more than 100 million views1 the uganda war museum will also showcase pre-colonial and colonial history1 colonial records were systematically destroyed by britain in a purge known as operation legacy. but the war museum is expected to document some events from the period1 construction has not yet begun but the museum already has its detractors1 john sempebwa the deputy executive director of the tourism board told voa he disagrees with his colleagues who suggest ugandans are ready to revisit the more painful details of their past1 society is divided. there are people who are still around who dont have good memories of amin. now not only wont they come they might burn this place down he said1 profile idi amin1 joined the army the kings african rifles in his 20s. seized power in 1971 less than 10 years after ugandas independence. some 400000 people are believed to have been killed under his rule. expelled ugandas entire asian population in 1972 accusing them of milking the economy. a convert to islam he took five wives fathered dozens of children and insisted on being called big daddy. he declared himself king of scotland banned hippies and mini-skirts and awarded himself the victoria cross. ousted b1 formed in uganda more than two decades ago the group became notorious for chopping off peoples limbs and abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves1