Posted on 07/21/2003 2:59:03 PM PDT by HAL9000
Ms Madina Amin yesterday said that her husband is ailing because of advanced age and overweight. She said that Mr Idi Amin Dada, 80, who was yesterday still in coma, weighs about 220 kilogrammes.
“At his age and then the fact that he is overweight there is little hope that he will fully recover. Salongo is so overweight that am sure it is part of the problem,” Madina told The Monitor yesterday as she prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia to attend her husband.
She said that Amin gained a lot of weight because he had stopped working out.
The family said that the last time the self-proclaimed field marshal stepped on a weighing scale he measured 220 kilogrammes.
Amin’s body mass index (BMI) is said to be more than 40 units, putting him in the obese bracket. BMI is the weight in kilogrammes divided by the height in metres squared.
When one exceeds 40 units he is considered obese. The bracket 19 to 24 units is considered normal while 25-30 units is overweight. Being obese makes one prone to diseases such as diabetes.
Amin, a former Commonwealth heavyweight boxing champion, stands at 6 feet, 4 inches. He is suffering from hypertension and “general fatigue”.
However, Dr Vincent Karuhanga of the Friends PolyClinic on Kampala Road yesterday questioned the accuracy of Amin's weight.
"If Amin is indeed 220 kilos that would make him perhaps one of the heaviest living human beings. Maybe they wanted to say 220 pounds which would be about 100 kilos," Karuhanga said.
The doctor said that 220 kilos is the equivalent of three average human beings or two heavyweight boxers.
An average, all round human adult weighs about 70 kg (154 pounds).
According to the Guinness World Records of 1998, the heaviest person in medical history was Jon Brower Minnoch of Bainbridge in the United States.
Minnoch had been obese since childhood. The 6-foot former taxi driver weighed 392 pounds in 1963 and 975 pounds in September 1976.
In March 1978, Minnoch was rushed to University Hospital, Seattle, saturated with fluid and suffering from heart and respiratory failure. Consultant endocrinologist Dr. Robert Schwartz calculated that Minnoch must have weighed more than 1,400 pounds when he was admitted.
After nearly 16 months on a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet, Minnoch was discharged at 476 pounds.
In October 1981, he had to be readmitted, having gained 197 pounds. When he died on September 10, 1983 he weighed more than 798 pounds.
Amin has been sick for the last three months and is admitted at Saudi Arabia's King Fahad hospital. He has lived in exile since 1979, first in Libya and later in Saudi Arabia.
About three weeks ago he was discharged. However, on July 18 his condition deteriorated and he went into coma.
His two sons, Mr Amin Mwanga and Mr Hussein Kato are attending him. Yesterday, Madina Amin was still completing visa and other formalities before she could travel to join her husband in hospital.
“Government has helped to process the visa and necessary documents. She is flying out tonight,” a relative said yesterday.
At the weekend, Madina told The Monitor that she had previously met with President Yoweri Museveni and asked him to let her husband to be brought back to Uganda.
Mr Museveni reportedly told her that the former President had violated human rights and would be held accountable the moment he arrived in Uganda.
Museveni, however, promised to consider the matter, but Madina now complains that the President’s aides are frustrating her.
Amin toppled Mr Milton Obote’s government on January 25, 1971 and ruled until April 11, 1979 when a combined force of Ugandan exiles and the Tanzanian army toppled him.
He first fled into exile to Libya, then to Iraq, from where he relocated to Saudi Arabia in December 1980.
In Saudi Arabia, the ruling royal family barred him from getting involved in active politics. He was also largely barred from speaking to journalists.
Then get on with it.
They got canibals in Uganda? Thats good eatin' size! ;-)
I'd say being overweight hasn't been much of a factor if he is 80 years old.
Oh well, millions of his countrymen would be alive today if the old fart had died of obesity sooner.
Right, like about 40 years ago.
For those that may not know him well
For five time-consuming years Amin longs for absolute power. Finally, in 1971, during a military coup, Idi Amin overthrew his protector Obote. He was now the "top man". He insisted that the European residents kneel in front of him and take an oath of allegiance. He began claiming his Moslem heritage. This was particularly apparent after he visited Colonel Quathafi (qv) in Libya, and subsequently threw out the Israelis. He started visiting Mosques and encouraging Moslem organizations. He carries on a constant war against the Christian communities in Uganda. His battle against the Christians is hardly the result of a Moslem crusade. It is merely a lashing out at any group or institution that might pose some threat to his regime. However, the main focus of his brutality has been the black people of Uganda. He seemed largely satisfied in humiliating the Europeans residing in Uganda and expelling the Asian and Jewish population. Of course, Idi Amin was responsible for the killing of two Americans, Robert L. Siedle and Nicholas Stroh in July 1971. But that's nothing compared to the torture and murder of over one hundred thousands Ugandans. Amin never hid his admiration for Adolf Hitler (qv). His methods however were very similar to Stalin's. He has not only eliminated his adversaries, but also his potential opponents.
Idi Amin's reign has been by fear and diversion. The killings have not only been numerous, but also brutal and torturous. It is the classical example of ongoing genocide. There are those who suggest that he is an African hero. Yet, he has shown no respect for African traditions, nor has he made any efforts to help the poor and afflicted of his country. The enormity of Amin's crimes against human rights and his utter disregard for any form of democracy, even a rudimentary one, is such that he has a well-deserved place in the panoply of ruthless dictators…with a cannibal sui generis touch, of course.
http://www.giles.34sp.com/biographies/amin.htm
If Amin was truly 220 kilos (484 pounds) as stated, his BMI would be nearly 60 units, putting him in the piano case coffin bracket.
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