Uganda hopes to attract tourists with a war museum showcasing some of the darkest moments from its history,according to the BBC. Atrocities committed under ex-President Idi Amin’s brutal eight-year rule and by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are to be documented.
“We want to put the record straight,” Uganda Tourism Board Chief Executive Stephen Asiimwe told the BBC.
The Uganda war museum, which has yet to be built, will also showcase pre-colonial and colonial history.
“History gets richer, it’s like red wine – it gets more interesting as the years go by,” Mr Asiimwe said.
He told the BBC’s Newsday programme that the project was not intended to be insensitive or voyeuristic.
“I lived through the Idi Amin era as a young boy, my fellow students lost their parents to the regime,” he said.
“However you cannot run away from history. These are facts.”
Facts about Idi Amin:
• Joined the army – the King’s African Rifles – in his 20s
• Seized power in 1971, less than 10 years after Uganda’s independence
• Some 400,000 people are believed to have been killed under his rule
• Expelled Uganda’s entire Asian population in 1972, accusing them of milking the economy
• A convert to Islam, he took five wives, fathered dozens of children and insisted on being called “Big Daddy”
• He declared himself King of Scotland, banned hippies and mini-skirts, and awarded himself the Victoria Cross
• Ousted by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles in 1979
• Died in Saudi Arabia in 2003
Mr Asiimwe said that every destination had its own traditional culture and attractions.
“In Uganda we have wildlife – mountain gorillas. But we are trying to retrace the past.”
Showcasing Uganda’s history would make the East African country a richer place for tourists to visit, he added.
