Mpagi Edward Edmary
by Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (April 30th 2015)
Turbulent Times
It began as any other summerʼs day, but Mpagi Edward Edmary and his cousin Fred Masembe were about to have their lives ripped apart. They had lived through the turbulent rule of Milton Oboteʼs first rule. They had seen Obote overthrown by the vicious tyrant Idi Amin. They thought the political instability and tyranny were but memories of a horrid past.
Little did they know that Paulo Muwangaʼs decision to declare Obote the winner of disputed elections would have consequences for them. The family dispute between Edmaryʼs family and that of neighbour and Obote supporters, William Wandyaka, would destroy their lives in an unexpected fashion – a case that had it been a film script would have been rejected as far too implausible.
Things like this simply do not happen – they canʼt happen. It was just too absurd for words.
Outrage
In early June 1981 – probably the 5th – Edmary and Masembe were arrested at their homes in the Masaka district of Butenge, Uganda – about 130 kilometres from the nationʼs capital, Kampala. Their ʻcrimeʼ was the murder of Wandyaka. But this was no ordinary case. Edmary and Masembe told an incredible story – one that simply could not be true, except it was. They pleaded not guilty at Masaka High Court.
Mpagi Edward Edmary at the school
They met their state-appointed lawyer just twice before the trial. Edmary could understand some English – the language of their trial – and Masembe could not. They were not provided with translators. The State called many witnesses – it would later be shown that those witnesses were a veritable roguesʼ gallery of perjurers, but that would take years and wrecked lives to establish.
On April 29th 1982 Edmary and Masembe were found guilty. They were sentenced to death and sent to the condemned section of the notorious Luzira Prison. The State had apparently proved that they had murdered Wandyaka. Their appeal was dismissed on October 18th 1983.
Mercy
After their appeal was dismissed and the mandatory death penalty upheld, they had little option but to ask for the prerogative of mercy to be extended to them – an abomination in its own right for clearly innocent men. That was refused. Instead, callous indifference resulted in a murder, that of an innocent man through negligence and lack of care.
Masembe was laid low by malaria. He and Edmary begged the prison to provide medication. That did not happen. The pleas for help for Masembe were met with a callous response from the prison authorities. He was denied medical treatment. They told him that as he was a prisoner condemned to death, they would not waste resources, attention and medicines on him.
On August 28th 1985 Masembe died of asthma, stomach pains, depreciation, physical and mental anguish. This illustrated the lack of concern for the welfare of the prisoners – innocence made no difference. If Masembe had been treated he would have lived. It is approaching 30 years since Masembe was judicially murdered.
Mpagi Edward Edmary
Rotten
The prerogative of mercy was denied. It was now a lottery if Edmary would be hanged for a crime that he did not commit. There was little time for goodbyes to family and friends. The lottery was the whim of the guards. Edmary came close to being hanged five times, but guards interceded on his behalf. During his ordeal over 50 people he had known and helped were hanged.
Despite his ordeal he was a calming influence. He helped other prisoners, teaching some of them – a right denied to his own family. He dreamed of one day proving his innocence, being vindicated and then fulfilling his mission. He wanted to build a school to give the poor an education and chances in life they would not otherwise have had (for more information on the school including their urgent needs this week see http://dreamoneworld.org/). But first he had to scale a mountain – one higher than Kilimanjaro.