Bloodshed For Power: The Assassination Of Uganda

He was the man who knew the truth about Idi Amin - and paid for it with his life.

Born out of the chaos of the 1947 Partition of India, Mohamed Hassan's life traced the fault lines of empire, migration, and power. As a Muslim forced into the new state of Pakistan, and later a migrant to East Africa, Hassan eventually found stability in Uganda - joining the police force at a time when the country stood on the brink of profound change.

Through ability, discipline, and an uncompromising adherence to the rule of law, Hassan rose rapidly to become Head of the Criminal Investigation Department. His position placed him at the centre of Uganda's most sensitive and high-profile investigations - including the brutal murder of a senior army officer and his wife.

The prime suspect was a young and ambitious soldier: Idi Amin Dada.

When Amin seized power in 1971, that unresolved crime became a dangerous secret. Those who knew too much - and those unwilling to bend - became obstacles to be removed. Mohamed Hassan was one of them.

Drawing on archival research, police and court records, first-hand testimony, and previously unpublished documents and photographs, this book reconstructs the extraordinary true story of a principled investigator caught in the machinery of an emerging dictatorship. It is also a deeply personal account, written by Hassan's son, of a father whose integrity could not be silenced - even by imprisonment, torture, and execution without trial.

Fifty years after his death, this book restores Mohamed Hassan to history and offers a rare, inside view of how law, truth, and ordinary lives are crushed when power goes unchecked.

A work of historical correction, remembrance, and moral witness, this is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Idi Amin's rise, Uganda's lost voices, and the human cost of tyranny.