PIOs' expulsion during Amin regime was a mistake: Ugandan Prez

The expulsion of Indian-origin people from Uganda by former dictator Idi Amin during 1970s was a "mistake", President Yoweri Museveni has said.

"That was our mistake and those people ended up enriching other countries where they went. Though after the new government took charge, the big business families came back, the small ones didn't return as they become prosperous there," Museveni said yesterday during his joint press conference with Vice President Hamid Ansari after holding bilateral talks.

During the reign of Amin, nearly 60,000 persons of Indian-origin were expelled from Uganda.

"They went to the UK and Canada and enriched those places, there is a street in a town in England, which is full of Ugandan-Indians. However, I must say that the issue was never about Indians really, as these were mostly Ugandans of Indian-origin or Indians who had come from UK. I was there then and I am here now, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had made it clear then too about this aspect," he said.
 

Uganda is now home to thriving Indian community of over 30,000 people. Some of the major businesses in pharmaceuticals and other sectors are owned by Indians or persons of Indian-origin.

Ansari's visit is the first bilateral visit to Uganda from India since 1997.

Yesterday, Ansari held bilateral talks with Museveni and the country's Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.

Later in the evening he also attended India-Uganda Business Forum and exhorted business communities from both sides to explore opportunities in not just Uganda but also East Africa Community.

He described his meeting with political and business leaders as "very fruitful" and said the two sides need to engage further to boost cooperation.