Agony for Nyeri Family as Woman Who Eloped With Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin Yet to be Found

A family in Nyeri County says that for the last 50 years, it has unsuccessfully been searching for a woman, who they said fled with former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

According to the Family, around 1954, Amin was a police constable at Kiamachimbi Police Post (now a police station in Mathira) after returning from World War II and befriended Wamuyu Wa Murage, and when he left the area, he eloped with her.

72 year-old Duncan Kaguithia revealed that Wamuyu, who was his aunt got attracted to Amin and her family reluctantly accepted the relationship. But, 50 years later, her whereabouts remains a mystery.

“This was during the State of Emergency and police officers were feared. We don’t know whether it was out of love or fear or both that made our aunt follow Amin,” says Kaguithia.

“Illiteracy and fear of authorities hindered the family from asking questions. We didn’t have anybody to guide us and today, her two sisters who are alive have no clear memory of her,” Kaguithia told the Standard.

And, when Amin became Ugandan president in the 1970s, the family had hoped they would spot her with him in public events, but it was not the case.

“It was a hard task. In the 1970s when I lived in Mombasa, I used to stop strangers and ask them about their background. We were determined to find her. We had pursued one case of a mentally sick woman only to learn about her relatives in Karatina,” says Kaguithia.

“We can’t tell whether she is alive or dead. We just don’t know what happened to her. It hurts us a lot,” says Kaguithia.