Mohamed Mo Amin: 1943 – 1996

The turmoil of Africa’s emergence into the 20th century

has long been the focus of the critical eye of the Western
World. From exploration to exploitation; from war-torn
horror to wildlife wonder; it has all been exposed to the
relentless gaze of the international press. No one has
caught its pain and passion more incisively than
Mohamed Amin, photographer and front-line cameraman
extraordinaire. He was the most famous photo -journalist
in the world, making news as often as he covered it.
“Mo” trained his unwavering lens on every aspect of
African life, never shying from the tragedy, never failing
to exult the success. He was born into an Africa at the
high noon of colonial decline and by his early teens was
already documenting events which were soon to
dominate world news. He witnessed and recorded the
alternating currents of his beloved continent and beyond,
projecting those images across the world, sometimes
shocking, sometimes delighting millions of television
viewers and newspaper readers.

His coverage of the 1984 Ethiopia famine proved so

compelling that it inspired a collective global conscience
and became the catalyst for the greatest ever act of
giving. Unquestionably, it also saved the lives of millions
of men, women and children.
The concerts of Band Aid & Live Aid and songs We are
the World & Do they know it is Christmas were a direct
result of Mo Amin’s moving television images.

Born in Kenya in 1943, the second son of a poor railway

worker, Mo was soon faced with racism, an inevitable
product of colonialism. He never forgot those underdog
years and fought against prejudice for the rest of his life.

From the time he acquired his first camera, a box

brownie, Mo’s future was determined. Quickly he
learned photographic and darkroom skills and was
already applying them to commercial use when he went
to secondary school in the then Tanganyika. Before he
was 20 he was recognised as a freelance in Dar es
Salaam and his work appeared in all the Fleet Street
national newspaper titles.
In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mo covered
every major event in Africa and beyond, braving torture,
surviving bombs and bullets, overcoming disability to
return to camera work within six months of losing his
arm, to emerge as the most decorated news cameraman
of all time. But his frenetic life was cut tragically short
when, in November 1996, hijackers took over an
Ethiopian airliner forcing it to ditch in the Indian Ocean
killing 123 passengers and crew.
Mo died on his feet still negotiating with the terrorists.

By any standards, Mo’s life was truly remarkable; action-

packed, full of pain and passion and inseparable from the
troubled chronicle of emergent Africa.

At the end of 1997, David Johnson, an American and his

South African wife,
Christel de Wit, collaborated with Salim Amin, Mo’s
only son, to launch The Mohamed Amin Foundation, a
professional media training centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
Mo’s Dream is Alive
Recapturing the Life of Mohamed Amin
Scouring through my old cds, I found an article I wrote
years ago on the life of Mohamed Amin, including this
rare picture of his prosthetic arm. I've tried googling for
it, but to no avail. True to my academic immaturity at the
time, no references are cited :-(.

Furthermore, either Google does not do justice to a

search on his name, or the websites used those years
have gone down. Nonetheless, I hope this article plays
some part in the remembrance of his life and
contribution...

Recapturing the Life of Mohamed Amin

by Tohir Solomons

It takes the humaneness of one to make a difference to

the world Mohamed Amin has shown us. Working in a
profession connoted with lies and disinformation,
Mohamed Amin taught us that we cannot be deceived to
our own humanity.

It's nearly 10 years ago that we witnessed the tragic crash

of Ethiopian Airlines ET961 into the Indian Ocean. And
sadly with that, was the life of the greatest
photojournalist in the world. In a career spanning more
than 30 years, Mo (as he was affectionately called)
covered the politics, sports and wildlife of the African
continent. A man of compelling bravery and pictures, his
life continues to inspire the commoner.

Early Life

At the age of 14, Mohamed Amin's plea to join the

photographic society was turned down. He was
considered to be too young. Added to this, young Mo
could not receive any encouragement from his family.
Photography is seemingly an inappropriate profession for
a Muslim, they argued. Determined to do photography,
Mohamed Amin persuaded a friend to lend him his
father's Rollicord camera. He took it to the society and
was admitted. Having access to equipment and the dark
room, he managed to teach himself the art and science of
photography.

In 1960, Mohamed Amin quit school in the middle of an

exam. He decided there was no point of going through an
exam because he'd get a paper he didn't need. He also felt
that the study couldn't assist him practically in the field
of photography. It was his belief that interest could well
cover for teaching. Added to this, the African continent
was about to experience a decade of turmoil and
transition. Mohamed Amin wanted to make his mark
covering the independence of Tanganyika.

In 1962, a friend introduced Mohamed Amin to a 16mm

camera (video camera). Two white liberals had escaped
from a jail in South Africa, stolen a Cessna aircraft and
flown to Dar es Salaam. On his way to the airport, Mo
borrowed a 16mm camera. He first took the stills and
then made the two get back in the plane and come out
again while he filmed. It was in this way that he started
coverage for BBC and ITN. He also got the nickname
'Six Camera Mo' for being draped with stills and cine
cameras.

Mohamed Amin received a tip off to the Zanzibar

revolution in Tanzania in 1964. He traveled to Dar es
Salaam on an early morning flight, and was the first
cameraman in the region. For four days, his film
coverage led world television bulletins at CBS, Visnews
and ITN. Soon there after, he started working as a
reporter for Visnews (predecessor of Reuters).

It was chiefly due to his work in Uganda that the world's

perception of Idi Amin changed. Captured and tortured
for covering a coup in Zanzibar in 1966, he was released
only after intense international diplomatic pressure. In
1969, Mohamed Amin was voted British Cameraman of
the Year for his coverage of the assassination of Tom
Moboya, a Kenyan Minister. He had not only recorded
the event but also organized the transport and
accompanied the dying man to hospital.

Ethiopia - 1980s

Mohamed Amin will best be remembered for helping to

bring the attention of the world to the famine in Ethiopia
in 1984. War was raging at the time in Ethiopia with
Soviet and Cuban troops fighting the rebel movement.
Though Amin had been trying for months to get a visa,
the then Mengistu regime was in particular extremely
suspicious of journalists. Eventually he managed to visit
the famine-stricken regions along with Zack Njuguna
(his soundman), and two journalists, Michael Buerk and
Michael Woolridge.

Describing the situation in an interviewed with Mary

Keevil in 1992, Mohamed Amin said,
"I had no idea how bad the famine was going to be until
we got there. It was only when we saw what we saw -
80,000 people wanting to be fed in a camp with no food
for possibly more than a handful of 50 or 60 people.

The Ethiopians being such a proud people, they just sat

there holding their babies knowing they were going to
die, but they didn't make an issue of it, they just sat
there… I'll never forget those scenes… they calmly just
sat there awaiting their fate. That came across strongly in
the pictures. The poor guy distributing the food would
just pick a person here or there… but people would die in
their thousands… by the time the aid got there, very
sadly it was too late to save a lot of he people. One
million died before the food arrived, however, if it had
not come maybe seven or eight million would have
died."

The seven minute clip was shown on BBC's Six O' Clock
news on 24 October 1984. The pictures were stark and
shocking, but the reaction, unprecedented. Over a billion
people saw it throughout the world. The unique broadcast
inspired millions to launch the 'We are the World'
campaign, the greatest ever global act-of-giving we have
seen. It was to have so much impact that it led Bob
Geldof to launch Band Aid and Live Aid, the
international humanitarian organizations. Speaking on
the incident, Bob Geldof replied that he was a provoked
by the broadcast: 'I dare you to turn away, I dare you to
do nothing'.

Mohamed Amin, however, was more emphatic about the

situation.
"I think the reaction of the people of the world was
tremendous. It wasn't from the governments… it was
from the hearts of ordinary people around the globe who
saw those helpless people. It was their outcry that made
the organizations and governments do something."

Mohamed Amin returned to Ethiopia a few months later

to do a follow-up story. He was, however, banned by the
Mengistu government for also doing a story on the
rebels.

Loss of an Arm

Mohamed Amin's ban was lifted in 1991 following the

fall of the Mengistu regime. He traveled to Ethiopia to
cover the fall. The war was still continuing, and a few
days later there was a huge explosion at an arms depot.
Mohamed Amin along with his sound recordist John
Mathai and reporters Michael Buerk and Colin Blane
went to visit the scene. Suddenly there was an explosion,
and Amin's camera fell to the ground. As he tried to pick
it up and put it to his eye, a rocket hit him. A heavy
camera bag containing equipment had prevented the
rocket from hitting his chest. Mohamed Amin was
bleeding heavily and lost the use of both arms.
Tragically, John Mathai, his sound recordist, was killed
on the spot.
In hospital, Amin's nightmare continued. As the war
raged on, the hospital was short of medicine, blood and
doctors. Fortunately, Reuters and Visnews assisted him
tremendously. They managed to persuade the rebels'
government to open the airport, and Amin was flown to
Nairobi for surgery. His right arm could be saved, but
unfortunately, not his left. The surgeon decided to
amputate, trying to save as much of the arm as possible.

Everybody thought that his career as a cameraman was

over. The sooner he got used to this he was told, the
better. Mo, instead, began an international search for a
prosthetic arm to prove his skeptics and doubters wrong.
He spoke to Visnews in London about modifying his
camera so that he could work with one hand. A few
months later, he went to the United States where John
Billock designed an arm for him that could operate a
camera. In fact, he had two prosthetic arms made for
him. He used to joke with airline personnel checking the
prostheses in his luggage, "I'm in the arms business."

Speaking on the accident, Mohamed Amin said,

"Since I lost my arm I have been busier at work. At first I
was a little slow, now I think I am faster than before. I
think you try harder. I don't really think I have a
disadvantage."

Mohamed Amin was awarded the M.B.E. in 1992 to

honour thirty years of covering trouble spots in Africa,
Asia and the Middle East.

Sudden Death
It used to be joked that wherever Mohamed Amin went,
there was news! And sadly, this was also how he met his
death.

On November 23 1996, Mohamed Amin was returning

home on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET961 from Addis
Ababa after a business trip. The airplane was hijacked by
three Ethiopians claiming to be armed with explosives.
After a struggle with the crew, the plane crashed into the
sea just off the coast of the Comoros Islands, breaking
into three. Mohamed Amin died on his feet still trying to
negotiate with the terrorists.

Speaking on his death, Michael Buerk said, "Having

spent all his life as a front-line war cameraman, to get
killed in a news story that he wasn't covering, after
surviving for years against the odds, was difficult to
come to terms with."

Mohamed Amin's Impact on the World

Mohamed Amin will best be remembered for his

compelling pictures of the Ethiopian famine in 1984. He
was instrumental in shaping the future of humanitarian
assistance.

Mike Wooldridge speaking of events of seventeen years

ago said, "I believe that the Ethiopian famine became a
watershed not only for my own life but for the aid
agencies and the media. I would like to think that the
media has improved from its earlier coverage, so that it
can explain famines and people will understand that it is
not simply about crop failures and drought".
Bob Geldof, speaking on Mohamed Amin's impact on the
world, said:
"Time and again, Mo moved the world from apathy to an
understanding of responsibility. He was a great journalist
and a great man. For good or for ill, he changed my life
and the lives of hundreds of thousands of others."

Mohamed Amin, though a recipient of many awards, also

has a few awards named after him. Reuters launched the
'News World Mohamed Amin Award' in 1997 to reward
acts of outstanding courage, professional skill or
initiative in bringing news. The American Academy of
Orthotists & Prosthetists established the 'Mohamed Amin
Humanitarian Service Award' to honour humanitarian
spirit among disabled persons.

Mohamed Amin and Our Future

Former US President George Bush commenting on the

death of Mohamed Amin said, "Millions are alive today
because Mohamed Amin risked his life time and
again…"

This rare achievement makes one reflect on the many

leaders who are guilty of the opposite. There are leaders
who are responsible for hundreds and thousands of
unnecessary deaths, not to make mention of the misery
caused. George W. Bush, in pursuing a blind policy for
hunting 'terrorists', will most certainly join the disgraced
list of leaders with blood on their hands.
Mohamed Amin's outstanding courage and determination
is inspirational. Rejected by the photographic society and
discouraged by his parents, he overcame all of this to
become the most celebrated photojournalist in the world.
Even the loss of an arm failed to lessen his spirit. It only
added more significance to the value of life.

A concluding thought… If Mohamed Amin was alive

today, how do you think he would have tackled the issue
of AIDS?s