1971: Idi Amin ousts Uganda president

General Idi Amin has seized power from President Milton Obote, the man who led Uganda to independence in 1962.

The general led a military coup while the president was out of the country attending the Commonwealth conference in Singapore.

Ugandan troops have sealed off Entebbe airport and there are reports of tanks and soldiers on the streets of the capital, Kampala. The president’s residence is said to have been surrounded and major road links have been blocked.

Dr Obote became the country’s first prime minister in 1962 at the head of an uneasy coalition between his own Uganda People’s Congress and the Kabaka Yekka or King’s party representing the Baganda tribe from the largest and richest province of the country.

Source: BBC