Sheraton Kampala Hotel Idi Amin in 1971, the hotel was renamed the Kampala International Hotel. Following the overthrow of Amin by Tanzanian forces, who made the hotel their headquarters, and the Uganda National Liberation Army in 1979, and the return to power of Obote in 1980, the hotel reverted to the Apolo Hotel name. There were other regime changes in the country in 1985 and 1986. The National Resistance Movement, which ascended into power in 1986, liberalized the economy and Middle Eastern investors won the rights to lease the hotel from the government of Uganda and manage it for the next 25 years,
History of Uganda (1971–79) which Obote had attempted to dismantle. They seemed willing to forget that their new president, Idi Amin, had been the tool of that military suppression. Amin made the usual statements about his government's intent to play a mere "caretaker role" until the country could recover sufficiently for civilian rule. Amin repudiated Obote's non-aligned foreign policy, and his government was quickly recognized by Israel, Britain, and the United States. By contrast, presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) initially refused to accept the legitimacy of the new military