Idi Amin's Torture Chamber

I decided I wanted to explore the more local district of Rubaga, where I was staying, and set off for Mengo Palace. This palace has a very long and important history with the Ugandan, in particular Bugandan, people. The palace was originally built by the 31st King of Buganda, however has had many modifications and updates over the years. His son, after visiting Scotland, later added the 'King's Mile' between the palace and parliament building, an impersonation of the 'Royal Mile' in Edinburgh.

In 1966 the Prime Minister at the time, Milton Obote, had grown envious of the King's power and ordered an attack of the palace, led by his general Idi Amin. The King escaped and took refuge in England. However this allowed Idi Amin to take control and over the following 6 years of terror led by Amin and a further 5 by Obote over 6000 Ugandans came to be tortured in these chambers.

As can be seen the chamber rooms are raised off the ground. This was so that the main room could be filled with water to form a moat. However a moat 4 feet deep isn't going to keep anyone in or out - so the water was electrified. Each room, three in total, had metal gate across the front, however these rooms often became overcrowded, so Amin or his guards would run a current through the water, so that anyone who fell (or more likely - was pushed) would be electrocuted.

The chambers are now full of graffiti, a lot of which is believed to be from family members, grieving for their lost relatives.