In 1975, Idi Amin sentenced a British writer to death for calling him a “village tyrant” and a “black Nero.”
Denis Hills was a British author and lecturer at Makerere University in Kampala. After witnessing the brutality and disorder that followed Idi Amin’s 1971 coup, Hills wrote sharply about the Ugandan dictator in the manuscript of his upcoming book, The White Pumpkin. The manuscript described Amin as a “village tyrant” and a “black Nero.” When Ugandan authorities discovered the remarks, Hills was arrested and taken before a military tribunal. He was convicted of treason and sedition and sentenced to death by firing squad.
Amin then turned Hills’ fate into a diplomatic confrontation with Britain. He demanded that senior British officials come to Kampala and plead for the writer’s life. Queen Elizabeth II personally appealed for clemency, while British officials were sent to negotiate with Amin. The dictator reportedly threatened to have Hills executed at Kampala’s “Execution Valley” unless Foreign Secretary James Callaghan came to Uganda himself.
The crisis eventually drew in Zaire’s President Mobutu Sese Seko, who helped mediate between Britain and Uganda. In July 1975, Callaghan travelled to Kampala. On July 10, 1975, Amin dramatically brought Hills out of military detention and handed him over to the British delegation. Hills expressed regret for the language he had used about Amin and was allowed to return safely to Britain.
What began with a few harsh words in an unpublished manuscript had escalated into an extraordinary diplomatic crisis—and one of the most bizarre episodes of Idi Amin’s rule. #Uganda #Britain