452 Chapter 4
MID#1809
Dispute Number: 1809
Date(s): June 26, 1975 to June 28, 1975
Participants: 501 Kenya/500 Uganda
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Kenya seized a shipment of Soviet military equipment en route to Uganda
as leverage on Idi Amin for his detention and ordered execution of British professor
Denis Hills, who was held on charges of sedition and espionage. These charges came
when Idi Amin’s officials learned Hills was working on a less-than-flattering charac-
terization of Amin’s regime through doing field research for a manuscript titled The
White Pumpkin. The leverage worked. Uganda and Kenya negotiated an agreement
in which Uganda received its equipment in exchange for the release of Hills on July
10, 1975.
Coding changes: Settlement changed from None.
MID#1368
Dispute Number: 1368
Date(s): February 26, 1976 to September 22, 1976
Participants: 500 Uganda/501 Kenya
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: 1–25 deaths
Narrative: Uganda’s Idi Amin claimed that the British had illegally transferred his-
torically Ugandan lands to Kenya during colonial times and announced the construc-
tion of a new base on the border. The situation deteriorated into attacks on civilians
by both states as well as a clash between Ugandan and Kenyan troops that resulted
in three Ugandan soldiers killed. The two states eventually negotiated a settlement.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from February 18, 1976. End Date changed
from August 27, 1976. Outcome changed from Unclear. Settlement changed from
None. Fatalities changed from Missing.
MID#2804
Dispute Number: 2804
Date(s): October 20, 1987 to December 28, 1987
Participants: 500 Uganda/501 Kenya
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: 26–100 deaths
Narrative: Both Uganda and Kenya blamed each other for harboring and support-
ing rebels, and tensions began to rise in the fall of 1987 as both countries suffered
from attacks. Uganda posted troops at the border to prevent cross-border raids from
Kenya on October 20. Forces from both countries clashed on December 14 as Kenya
accused 60 Ugandan troops of attacking near Busia. Uganda denied the charges. On
December 18, Kenya expelled Uganda’s two highest-ranking diplomats and ordered