General Moses Ali helped Idi Amin Dada capture power during the 1971 military coup that overthrew President Milton Obote.He monitored pro-Obote troop movements at Malire Barracks and bypassed military guards to assist Amin’s takeover. Amin later rewarded him with high-ranking government and ministerial positions.
The 1971 Military Coup-During the coup that overthrew President Milton Obote, Moses Ali followed Amin’s orders to go to the Malire Barracks. There, he monitored pro-Obote soldiers and tricked military guards to help Amin secure control of the army.
Following the coup, Amin rewarded Ali’s loyalty by appointing him to key government portfolios. He served as the Minister of Provincial Administration (Interior) starting in 1973 and was later promoted to Minister of Finance in 1975.
By 1978, the relationship between the two men completely fractured. Amin publicly accused Ali of corruption, stripped him of his official military honors, and allegedly targeted him for assassination.
When Amin’s regime collapsed in 1979 during the Uganda–Tanzania War, Moses Ali fled into exile in southern Sudan. There, he formed his own rebel group—the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF)—composed largely of former West Nile soldiers from Amin’s remnants, before eventually integrating his forces and allying with current President Yoweri Museveni in 1986.