After years of failed promises and economic underdevelopment in Africa, young people, especially those on the margins, are beginning to miss the old leaders of the 1960s and 1970s. A majority of these leaders who ushered their countries to independence from colonial rule often had diverse political outlooks, ranging from visionary and idealistic to pragmatic and even despotic. In one same leader, one could find multiple characteristics: visionary and dictatorial or pragmatic and also foolishly naïve.
In her article, ‘Of Nostalgia and Strongmen,’ published in the magazine African Arguments, Christine Chalifoux remembers her encounters with young Ugandans aged between 19 and 40 who admired Uganda’s Idi Amin and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. The security guards and boda boda riders described the two as patriots and pragmatic leaders who loved their countries and the entire African continent. Those interviewed particularly missed the leaders’ “anti-colonial rhetoric and protectionist economic policies.”
But how is the media supposed to frame the memories of these leaders, especially if it is a ruthless dictator such as Amin, who killed thousands of citizens and plundered his country? Is it through accurate reporting and revealing new information or outright revisionism and distortion of facts? To illustrate this point, let’s take NTV’s documentary on the man who ruled Uganda for eight years, released in both Kiswahili and English. The review will focus on the Kiswahili version titled “Kumbukizi ya aliyekuwa rais wa Uganda Idi Amin,” narrated by seasoned investigative reporter Duncan Khaemba.
Amin’s legacy, like that of other world leaders, remains disputed because it’s riddled with controversies. Therefore, to find an exclusive interview with one of his children – highly articulate, outspoken and keen to set the record straight about his father – is a golden opportunity for any journalist. It’s a chance to enlighten viewers through a witness who lived through the horrors and tragedies and is more than willing to retell the events.
Let’s put that aside. What are you supposed to do as a journalist? Like, how exactly should you approach and conduct the interview with such an important source? Should you simply allow your guest to ramble in long monologues defending his father (which is obviously expected), or should you question the narrative and respectfully interject where there are inconsistencies and outright lies and distortions? Any student of journalism knows the latter is better because interviews are essentially a two-person affair. The reporter asks and the guest answers. It’s also the journalist’s ultimate responsibility to seek clarifications, to call out diversions and fabrications, and to affirm penetrating revelations while keeping the interview as civil as possible. This is exactly what viewers expected in Khaemba’s exclusive interview with Jaffar Remo in order to understand Amin’s complicated legacy.
For starters, the 58-year-old Jaffar has been leading truth and reconciliation efforts for individuals and communities whose lives were destroyed by his father in the 1970s. He has reached out to Godfrey Ofumbi, the son of then Interior Minister Oboth Ofumbi, murdered in 1977, as well as Madaraka Nyerere, the son of Tanzania’s founding father, Julius Nyerere. These efforts, according to Jaffar, are meant to atone for the many sins of his father. He also advocates for peaceful resolution to political conflicts. However, this does not mean he agrees with all things still being said about his father.
Jaffar depicts Amin as a persecuted saint who lacked agency due to his complicated African upbringing. He implicitly excuses the brutal killing of Ugandans as part of a deserved punishment, yet historical records consistently reveal a pattern of extreme violence that targeted innocent people. To the shock of viewers, Khaemba and another journalist interviewing Jaffar do not even make attempts to counter the blatant revisionism and distortion of facts. They simply nod their heads in response. Throughout the interview, it seems patently clear the reporters are helpless due to a lack of solid historical knowledge to counter the many outlandish claims about Amin’s presumed innocence. What a wasted opportunity to learn about the many sides of a dictator who brought nothing but suffering to Ugandans! Lesson: Always do thorough background research before conducting such a high-profile interview.
