THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED IDI AMIN — AND DISCOVERED THAT BEING HIS W1FE WAS NO ORDINARY LIFE

THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED IDI AMIN — AND DISCOVERED THAT BEING HIS W1FE WAS NO ORDINARY LIFE

THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED IDI AMIN — AND DISCOVERED THAT BEING HIS W1FE WAS NO ORDINARY LIFE

She was Only about 22 years old when she went ag@inst her family’s wishes and m@rried the man who would eventually become one of Africa’s most fe@red dict@tors.

Her name was Sarah Mutesi Kibedi, better known after converting to Islam as Malyamu Amin.

She came from a respected family in Busoga. Her father, Elkanah Kibedi, was a prominent educator, and her brother, Joshua Wanume Kibedi, would later become Uganda’s Foreign Minister.

But Malyamu chose Idi Amin, then a young soldier and former heavyweight boxing champion.

They m@rried in March 1962, about seven months before Uganda gained independence.

At first, Malyamu appeared to have m@rried the man she l0ved.

But she soon discovered that Amin’s affection for women was not limited to her.

According to accounts of their relationship, Malyamu eventually became susp1cious that her husb@nd was seeing another w0m@n.

So she devised a little test.

She told Amin that she was travelling to Busoga to visit her parents.

Instead of objecting, Amin reportedly encouraged her to go — and even suggested that she stay longer because she needed a holiday.

Malyamu eventually returned s€cretly.

And what she found reportedly confirmed her susp!cions.

Amin was with another woman: Kay Adroa, a beautiful Makerere University student from Uganda’s West Nile region.

A confrontation followed between the two women.

Amin reportedly apologised to Malyamu and promised that it would not happen again.

But his promise did not last.

In May 1966, Amin m@rried Kay Adroa as his second wife.

Malyamu would later see her husband’s wedding to the woman she had already suspected — reportedly on television.

Kay’s story would become even darker.

According to accounts recorded by broadc@ster and author Apollo Wuod Okello Lawoko, Amin helped Kay obtain a position at Radio Uganda. She became a broadcaster, and Amin would sometimes collect her from work.

On one occasion, Lawoko recalled that Kay arrived at work with a sw0llen f@ce and said that Amin had be@ten her.

She reportedly warned Lawoko to keep his distance from Amin because she believed the milit@ry officer was capable of h@rming him.

Another account describes Amin storming into Radio Uganda while Kay was presenting a live programme.

When a programme manager tried to st0p him from entering the studio, Amin reportedly punched him before f0rcing his way inside, gr@bbing Kay and dr@gging her away.

The story of Amin’s wives would become increasingly turbul€nt.

In 1967, he m@rried Nora.

In 1972, he m@rried Madina Nalongo, his fourth wife.

Then, in 1974, Amin announced on Radio Uganda that he had d!v0rced Malyamu, Kay and Nora.

Kay Adroa would d!e that same year under myster!ous circumstances. Her b0`dy was found in the boot of a car belonging to a doctor who had also d!€d. She was reportedly pregn@nt. Her de@th has long been surrounded by @llegations and susp!cion, although the circumstances remain d1$puted.

But Amin’s complic@ted relationships with wom€n did not end there.

In 1975, he m@rried a teenage dancer named Sarah Kyolaba, famously nicknamed “Su!¢ide Sarah” because she performed with the Revolutionary Suicide Mechanised Regiment Band.

Their wedding was extrav@gant and was held during the Organisation of African Unity summit in Kampala.

Among the distinguished guests were Yasser Arafat and Kenyan Vice President Daniel arap Moi. Arafat participated in the Islamic wedding ceremony.

Sarah remained with Amin until 1982, when she left him while he was living in ex!le.

She took her son Faisal Wangita with her and eventually settled in London after spending time in Germany, where she tried modelling.

Her life after Amin was almost as dr@matic as her years with him.

In L0n`don, she ran a Ugandan restaurant. In 1999, he@lth insp€ctors found the establishment infested with mice and cockroaches, and she narrowly avoided a pr1son sentence after being conv!¢ted of he@lth-code offences.

Then, in 2007, her son Faisal made international headlines.

He was involved in a g@ng att@ck in Lon`don that resulted in the de@th of an 18-year-old Somali student, Mahir Osman.

Faisal was cleared of mur`der, but was conv1cted of conspir@cy to wound and v1olent disorder and s€!ntenced to five years in pr1$on.

Sarah Kyolaba died in London in 2015, bringing to an end the remarkable life of a wom@n who had once been m@rried to one of Africa’s most notor10us rulers.

From a young wom@n who def1ed her family to marry a soldier…

To the wife of a dict@tor…

To a refugee, model and Lon`don restaurateur…

The women who lived around Idi Amin carried stories that were almost as extraordinary as the man himself.

Sources: New Vision (Uganda); Daily Monitor (Uganda); The Guardian (UK); Apollo Wuod Okello Lawoko, The Dungeons of Nakasero.