Today in History: Idi Amin Expels British Military Advisers From Uganda

What the report says

On September 14, 1972, Idi Amin ordered the immediate removal of the British Military Advisory Team from Uganda, ending Britain’s direct military advisory role in the country. According to Nile Post, Amin had grown increasingly distrustful of the British personnel still working with the Ugandan army and viewed them as a possible security risk rather than neutral trainers.

The report says this decision came amid rumours that Britain might back an intervention against Amin’s government or support forces loyal to former president Milton Obote, who was operating from Tanzania. It also followed a broader deterioration in relations between Kampala and London, including Amin’s earlier expulsion order targeting Asians holding British passports. British advisers had remained in Uganda after Amin took power in January 1971 and had been helping train and reorganise the army.

Nile Post notes that by 1972 Amin was distancing Uganda from Western countries, expelling Israeli advisers and moving closer to Libya and the Soviet Union after Western governments declined to provide the heavy weapons and fighter aircraft he wanted. The expulsion of the British team effectively ended formal defence cooperation at the time and helped accelerate Uganda’s reliance on other partners for military support.

The historical context matters because the move came only days before fighting intensified near Uganda’s southern border as anti-Amin forces tried to enter from Tanzania. In the years that followed, British military involvement in Uganda later returned in different forms after Amin was overthrown, but not as the advisory mission that existed in 1972.