Uganda's 1978–79 invasion of Tanzania's Kagera Salient triggered a war that ultimately ended Idi Amin's dictatorship.
Key Facts
- Kagera Salient area
- 1,865 square kilometres km²
- Civilian deaths in Kagera
- approximately 1,500 shot and killed
- Ugandan invasion launched
- 30 October 1978
- Salient retaken by Tanzania
- January 1979
- Amin overthrown
- April 1979
- Mozambique support
- Sent one battalion to Tanzania
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tensions between Tanzania and Uganda had festered since Amin's 1971 coup against President Obote, whom Tanzanian President Nyerere supported. Uganda disputed its border with Tanzania, claiming the Kagera Salient. By 1978, Amin's regime was destabilised by economic collapse and military dissent, prompting increasingly aggressive border incursions into Tanzanian territory.
On 30 October 1978, Ugandan forces overwhelmed a small Tanzanian contingent and fully occupied the Kagera Salient, with Amin announcing annexation. Tanzania mobilised its People's Defence Force and launched Operation Chakaza, routing the Ugandans with artillery. By January 1979, the TPDF had fully retaken the salient, after which Nyerere ordered an advance into Uganda itself.
After the Kagera Salient was recaptured, Tanzania pushed into Uganda and overthrew Idi Amin in April 1979, ending his brutal rule. The conflict left Kagera's infrastructure and standard of living severely diminished for years. The war is remembered in Tanzania as the Kagera War and stands as a rare case of a military intervention resulting in regime change in Africa.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Idi Amin.
Side B
2 belligerents
Julius Nyerere.