Idi Amin torture chamber is one of the top places to visit while on a Kampala city tour in Uganda. The torture chambers are located in Lubiri Mengo, a palace for the king of Buganda kingdom just 3km from Kampala city centre. The chambers were at first built to keep weapons and ammunitions but was later turned into torture chambers.
Idi Amin with the help of Israelite engineers and architects built the torture chambers in 1971 serving a purpose as storage of his armoury but in 1972 he converted it into torture chamber for any person who was against his government.
The torture chamber was comprised of five cells and a dark tunnel filled with electrified water with an electric door at the entrance. All the cells had no windows or ventilators but more than 100 people both men and women would be forced in each cell where they would die of suffocation and hunger.
The chamber operatives also Amin men would go to villages and towns to pick up anyone opposing Amin’s rule and once they were brought they would be blind folded and driven around for about 4 and more hours so that they don’t realize that they are still in the same place when brought back. They would then be put inside the torture chamber where they would die of hunger, torture, suffocation or electrification. More than 200,000 people are believed to have died in these chambers.
Idi Amin Dada was the third president of Uganda between 1971 and 1979 who appointed himself, taking from Milton Obote in 1971 after launching a military troop against Obote’s government. Idi Amin was a Ugandan military officer who was known as the Butcher of Uganda and one of the grievous dictators of Africa. He was a man of his word whereby he chased all Asians from Uganda in 1972. He is known to have kept human heads in his refrigerator and fed his enemies to crocodiles. Idi Amin was born in Koboko in 1925, he joined the Kings African Raffles of the British colonial army as a cook in 1946 and he quickly rose through ranks during the Shifta war in Somalia and Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya. He was appointed commander of armed forces in 1966, he continued to work with Milton Obote after Uganda’s independence.
President Apollo Obote, while on the way to Singapore to attend a Commonwealth Summit meeting he ordered Amin’s arrest on charges of misappropriating army funds. During Obote’s absence, Amin staged a coup on 25th January 1971 seizing power and forcing Obote into exile. During the 8 year of Amin’s leadership, many people both Ugandans and foreigners lost their lives. He organized internal security forces such as State Research Bureau (SRB) and Public Safety Unity (PSU) purposely to eliminate whoever opposed his regime. He was forced into exile in April, 1979 in Libya but later moved to Saudi Arabia where he lived till his death on16 August 2003.
Idi Amin’s fourth wife Madina Nalongo reported his admission at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research centre in Jddah Saudi Arabia after experiencing kidney failure that later killed him.
Many tourists flock Idi Amin torture chambers to hear about Amin’s history. The torture chambers still exist though the water and electricity is gone. All that can be seen is a dark tunnel with its cement wearing out and writings of pain written in blood like cry far help me the dead and soil on the walls. The remains of the people like bones and skulls were removed since the chambers are visited by both children and adults. A visit to this historical place creates a memorable Uganda safaris and can be visited at any day, just let your tour operator know in order to add it to your city tour itinerary in Kampala.