Description: Idi Amin's crimes on behalf of Black empowerment in Uganda made him a monster in the world's eyes. Yet Yoweri Museveni has enjoyed decades of Western support in exchange for adopting neoliberal policies and embracing the "war on terror." An esteemed Ugandan scholar's firsthand report, Slow Poison uncovers revealing ironies of postcolonial history.
Brief description: Mahmood Mamdani is Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Professor of Anthropology and Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University. He was Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Kampala from 2010 to 2022. His books include Neither Settler nor Native, Citizen and Subject, When Victims Become Killers, and Good Muslim, Bad Muslim.
Review Quotes: One isn't always the master of one's destiny, but for Mahmood Mamdani, remaining a spectator is not a valid option. Written like a novel, this book retraces the steps in the construction of the Ugandan nation, with the relevant critical stakes but above all reckoning with a long administered 'slow poison.'--In Koli Jean Bofane, author of Congo Inc.