Memoirs of a Muhindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West

In Memoirs of a Muhindi, Mansoor Ladha bears witness to what happens when nations turn against entire religious and ethnic groups.

When, in 1972, Ugandan president Idi Amin expelled Africans of Indian descent from the country, he unleashed an intolerance that set off an exodus from the entire region. In Tanzania and Kenya, businesses were nationalized, properties taken, people harassed, and livelihoods upended.

Mansoor Ladha, who was living in Nairobi at the time, had to decide whether to stay or leave. Canada became his new home—where he found considerable success, as did the rest of the Ismaili community—while East Africa never recovered from its fit of bigotry.