On April 11, 1979 the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin fled the capital Kampala as Tanzanian forces and allied Ugandan exiles captured the city, ending eight years of one of Africa's most brutal regimes and installing a government of former exiles. Amin had seized power in 1971 and presided over mass killings and the expulsion of Uganda's Asian community, wrecking the economy. In October 1978 he launched an invasion of Tanzania, which repulsed the attack and, joined by Ugandan exile forces organized as the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF), drove north into Uganda.
As the combined force closed on Kampala, Amin fled on April 11, 1979; the city fell that day, with a Tanzanian commander announcing the capture over Radio Uganda. Amin escaped first to Libya and eventually settled in Saudi Arabia, where he died in 2003. Yusuf Lule was flown in and installed as president on April 13.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Idi Amin, who fled Kampala on April 11, 1979 as Tanzanian and exile forces took the city; he was not captured and went into exile.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Idi Amin (dictator who fled)
Yusuf Lule (installed as president two days later)
The Tanzanian army and UNLF (which captured Kampala)
Sources
On April 11, 1979 Ugandan dictator Idi Amin fled the Ugandan capital of Kampala as Tanzanian troops and forces of the Uganda National Liberation Front closed in, and two days later Kampala fell and a coalition government of former exiles took power.
SOURCE REVIEWEDHistory.com, Idi Amin overthrownopen source ↗
The Fall of Kampala was a battle in the Uganda-Tanzania War in 1979 in which the combined forces of Tanzania and the Uganda National Liberation Front captured the Ugandan capital, resulting in President Idi Amin being deposed, his forces scattered, and a UNLF government installed, with Lule flown in and installed as President on 13 April.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Fall of Kampalaopen source ↗
As the Tanzanian-led forces neared Kampala on April 11, 1979, Amin fled the country and was succeeded as president by Yusufu Lule two days later, and after escaping first to Libya, Amin finally settled in Saudi Arabia.
Amin launched an unsuccessful attack on Tanzania in October 1978, Tanzanian troops assisted by armed Ugandan exiles put his army to flight and invaded Uganda, and with these troops closing in Amin escaped the capital, while a coalition government calling itself the Uganda National Liberation Front, with Yusufu Lule as president, took office in April 1979.
SOURCE REVIEWEDBritannica, Uganda: Tyranny under Aminopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Coding note: the dataset labels this a rebel coup, reflecting that Amin was overthrown by a combined force of Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exile rebels (the UNLF); Amin fled and was not captured, matching the dataset's fled-the-country fate. Atrocity context handled neutrally: Amin's regime is widely held responsible for the deaths of roughly 300,000 Ugandans and the 1972 expulsion of the Asian community; these are recorded as documented, commonly cited figures rather than adjudicated. Trigger: the overthrow followed Amin's own October 1978 invasion of Tanzania, which Tanzania repulsed before counter-invading. Aftermath: the UNLF government proved unstable, with Lule replaced by Godfrey Binaisa within months and Milton Obote (whom Amin had overthrown in 1971) returning to power in 1980, separate later events. Amin died in exile in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Idi Amin, who fled Kampala on April 11, 1979 as Tanzanian and exile forces took the city; he was not captured and went into exile..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Capital of Uganda Taken by Invaders; New Regime Formed,” by John Darnton, April 12, 1979
“TANZANIAN WITHDRAWAL LEAVES KAMPALA JUMPY,” July 10, 1981
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →