Philip Short reporting on the Ugandan Asian expulsion for the Ugandan Argus stated:

“So many accusations have been made against Uganda’s Asian community during the past year or so that a visitor here might be forgiven for wondering whether there is anything that they have not done.

Since President Idi Amin came to power 18 months ago, the 80,000 Asians here have been collectively blamed for misfortunes ranging from a shortage of sugar to the depleting state of Uganda’s foreign reserves to plotting a Rhodesian-style takeover of the Government. Some of these accusations have a basis in truth.

The sugar shortage, for instance, which was one of the first things to turn the Government’s attention to the Asian community, was indeed partly the result of Asian firms–the large, respected ones as well as the small family owned concerns–smuggling sugar to neighbouring countries where the retail price was higher. But it was also due to a huge increase in demand resulting from the Government’s inflationary policy.”

Source: Ugandan Argus, September 1972