Operation Mafuta Mingi

Operation Mafuta Mingi
Date18 June 1977
Location
Uganda
Result Ugandan government victory
Belligerents
 Uganda Uganda Liberation Movement[a]
Commanders and leaders
Idi Amin (WIA) Patrick Kimumwe (POW)
Wilson Kimumwe
Anthony Bazalaki
Sylvester Mutumba  (POW)
Units involved
Uganda Army loyalists
State Research Bureau

Uganda Army dissidents

  • Malire Battalion elements
  • UAAF elements
Strength
Unknown c. 500

Operation Mafuta Mingi (Kiswahili for: "much cooking oil";[3] alternatively spelled "Mafutamingi")[4] was a coup d'état attempt on 18 June 1977 which aimed at killing Ugandan President Idi Amin and overthrowing his government. The operation was organized by the "Uganda Liberation Movement", a group consisting of dissident Uganda Army soldiers and pilots, backed by business owners in Kampala and Entebbe.

The coup plotters were able to amass a substantial force, and planned to eliminate Amin by first bombing his position using combat aircraft, followed by a ground-based attack. On the day of the coup, however, the President was warned and was able to prevent the aerial attack. He then escaped from Entebbe to Kampala, throwing the coup plotters off guard and breaking through a group of dissidents who tried to stop his convoy. Afterwards, the operation unravelled, as coup members were arrested or fled to Kenya. Amin stayed in power until 1979 when he was deposed as a result of the Uganda–Tanzania War.

  1. ^ Avirgan & Honey 1983, p. 46.
  2. ^ Avirgan & Honey 1983, pp. 44–45.
  3. ^ Avirgan & Honey 1983, p. 5.
  4. ^ Mann, Roger (24 June 1977). "Amin Alive". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 May 2021.


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