From @Reuters: 'Major' Bob Astles in Nairobi as Idi Amin's spokesman, 13 Nov. 1978. He was tasked with explaining Uganda's invasion of Tanzania (which had happened a few days before).
Astles was a remarkable character. In the mid-60s he'd helped run Obote's secret service, 1/3
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while also operating cameras for UTV. Under Amin's govt he headed Uganda Airways, ran the 'Heart Beat of Africa' troupe, & was head of an anti-corruption task force. He told a visiting Kenyan businessman in 1978 that 12 attempts had recently been made on his life (see below).
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When the Tanzanians took Kampala in April 1979, Astles was reported to have perished. In fact he'd escaped to Kenya. He was put on trial in Kampala, when the clip below was made.
In Nov. 1981 Astles was acquitted. He spent the rest of his life in England, & died in 2012.
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His obituary, from the Telegraph: 'the most hated white man in Africa'.
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Astles' second wife was Mary Sentakuta, one of the most accomplished women of her generation. A graduate of Bristol University in the UK, she was a career civil servant who became Minister of Culture and Comm. Development in Idi Amin's govt. She died in 2015.
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Here's a 1978 biography of Bob Astles by John Darnton of the NYT.
According to Darnton, Astles played a key role in setting up the notorious State Research Bureau, the state intelligence unit that murdered a great many Ugandans.
Senkatuka, not Sentakuta!
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