Infamous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada had a total of seven wives and 40 children, on the record.
One of his children was born in late 1978, right at the start of the Uganda-Tanzania War. The baby boy was named Kagera River, because Uganda had recently invaded and captured part of the Kagera region of Tanzania, making the Kagera River the front line between the Ugandan and Tanzanian armies.
Idi Amin was also obsessed with all things Scottish, and gave other sons the Scottish names Campbell, McLaren, McKenzie and Mackintosh.
I’ve been trying to find a full list of the 40 (official) kids, but haven’t had any luck yet. I do know two other sons are named Taban and Jaffar, though.
(Idi‘s own name was a one-hit wonder in the data in 1977, btw.)
Sources:
- Chocano, Carina. “‘Last King of Scotland’: Ministering to Idi Amin.” Los Angeles Times 27 Sept. 2006.
- “Idi Amin a New ‘Dada’.” Telegraph-Herald 6 Nov. 1978: 2.
- “Idi Amin’s son lashes out over ‘Last King’.” USA Today 2 Feb. 2007.
Image: Adapted from Idi Amin and Levi Eshkol – Entebbe 1966.
I thought Campbell was Mckenzie’s middle name. Most articles I’ve read about the movie state that he never had a son named Campbell. Who knows! lol
Could be. I found the Scottish names in that LA Times movie review — “Throwing fear of ridicule to the wind, he saddled four of his sons with the names McKenzie, Campbell, McLaren and Mackintosh and once declared himself the last king of Scotland” — but maybe the reviewer got it wrong.
Here are a few more kids of the Amin clan: Faisal, Khadija, Adam, Emira (source), Hussein and Mwanga (source).
Apparently another son, born days after Kagera River (to a different wife) was named Kyaka “after a village taken in the war with neighboring Tanzania.”
Source: “Amin Father for 35th Time.” Reading Eagle 9 Nov. 1978: 3.