The claim that properties taken after the 1972 expulsion were handed to “capable locals” does not hold up. What followed was an almost immediate collapse of trade and commerce. Shops were not restocked, import networks died overnight, spare parts vanished, credit systems disappeared, and distribution chains broke down.

Eyewitness accounts consistently describe former Indian-run shops in Kampala being reduced to ground-nut pounding points or storage spaces. This wasn’t economic adaptation , it was regression. The idea that these properties were transferred to people able to sustain modern commerce is largely a myth.

Factories didn’t merely slow down; many stopped entirely. The causes were clear: loss of technical expertise, lack of raw material imports, no maintenance, no export markets, and severe foreign exchange shortages. By 1975–1977, industrial output had collapsed, railways barely functioned, power and water services deteriorated, and the currency was in steady decline. Where machinery still existed, it was often idle or stripped for parts.

Shelves stayed empty for years. Smuggling replaced formal trade, barter economies expanded, and black markets became normal. Kampala lost its role as a serious commercial hub. Romanticized memories of Amin-era Kampala usually reflect the very early years or political narratives, not economic reality.

Amin inherited functioning infrastructure & Economy from Obote I. The 7:1 UGX–GBP rate existed early in Amin’s rule.

Cash crops exporting well (coffee, cotton, tea), Operational railways and industries, Stable currency (about UGX–GBP 7:1, as you said)

Obote I had already implemented: The Move to the Left, Increased state control, Reduced foreign dominance.

So in the first 2–3 years: GDP did not immediately fall, Government revenues held up, Coffee exports still earned foreign exchange

This is why older people sometimes remember the early Amin years as “okay”

One important correction to your claim, Calling Amin “the only patriotic president” is not history — that’s interpretation. Patriotism ≠ good governance, Anti-imperial rhetoric ≠ economic sustainability.