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Uganda´s Death Row.

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Sep

Uganda´s Death Row.

Written by Mpagi Edward Edmary

Article Index
Uganda´s Death Row.
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Page 1 of 2

Mpagi Edward Edmary

My name is Mpagi Edward Edmary. I really appreciate your efforts. I am so happy to join you in this webpage aimed at the global moratorium on the death penalty.

My story is for the brothers in Uganda that are still on death row.
In 1981, I was arrested along with my cousin brother Mr. Fred Masembe (rest in peace). I served 20 years in jail for the alleged murder of a person who was later found to be alive.

We only saw our lawyer twice before our hearing. As a result of bribes we were sentenced to death. At that time my English was not so good. I needed a translator. My brother did not know any English at all.

I spent 18 years on death row and 2 years on remand. My cousin brother and I were both convicted in this case. By then in Uganda it was very hard to reverse the decision of the judge, so my family followed the case up, until they lost hope in securing our release. My brother and I could not believe that a legal system would convict innocent people.

In Uganda, conditions for death row prisoners are cruel, degrading and inhumane. We were always denied medicines. There were lice flies and other vermin in the prison and this resulted in many illnesses and many prisoners died from these illnesses. In 1984 my brother developed malaria and stomach complications because of inadequate food and skin conditions.

I pleaded with the prison authorities to give my brother medication and treatment. However they told me that we were brought to death row to face death, that it was a waste of tax payer's money to treat him. My brother died in 1985. This really scared me. But life continued.

Life is terrible on death row in Uganda, Africa. No one was ever given any notice that they would be executed. Each time we were taken by complete surprise. We lived in complete fear of any unusual activity from the wardens. During my stay in prison there were five rounds of executions. The last one was in 1999 in which the state executed 28 prisoners. But to make matters worse for the inmates, execution was carried out in the very nearby place, the crying of the inmates was closely heard and movements were seen. This made inmates life so complicated.

I remember my best friend and roommate who was dragged out by prison wardens to be executed. He cried and resisted but he was overpowered after he was hit on the head by fierce wardens. Everybody was in fear at that time. It took us years to be relieved of that incident. But still I keep remembering his last words.

Continues >>>

The coffins for the prisoners to be executed were made in the prison. During the three days before executions, we could all hear the making of coffins. The black hoods and clothes for prisoners to be executed were made by other prisoners. We knew how many people were to be executed by counting the number of hoods being made.

All this made us depressed and stressed. The people selected for execution were taken to the gallows, which were above our cells. They kept calling out to us and singing hymns to inform us of their fate. Many of them went to the gallows pleading their innocence. Others admitted their crimes and made peace with their enemies and the Lord. Others insisted that while they committed offences, their co-accused were innocent and wrongly convicted.

For three days prior to execution we were obliged to stay in our cells. During this time we were forced to live, sleep and eat in the same conditions. No one had any appetite for food, sleep or conversation. There was normally dead silence and we thought about our own executions. Some prisoners then attempted suicide, even if they were not going to be executed then.

Executions normally took place at night. When a prisoner reached the gallows, we would all listen. After a few moments, we would hear a loud sound like a sudden explosion, as the trap doors of the gallows spring open and the prisoners are dropped to their death. We would then hear the corpses fall with a loud bang on the death table.

After my release, my family had dispersed. My wife had died and I have since lost track of two of my children because of the 1985 guerilla war in Uganda. I don't know whether they are still alive. I have four children left -- two from my previous family and two from my current family. Unfortunately the two children from my first family had no support to go to school in my absence and so now they are illiterate, which hurts me so much.

In our village in Masaka (Kyamabaale) the village chairman had business and land wrangles with my family, one day thieves broke into the neighbors home beat him and robbed his money. The following day I was arrested, with my cousin brother Fred, as suspects in the robbery at the neighbors place. This was done on the orders of the chairman.

Police took us to a community prison in Masaka, we thought the authorities were going to make an investigation and we could be released shortly. As community heads, they had a right to hold anybody as suspects.

We were produced in the High Court but we were surprised that High Court Judge said we were on a murder charge; that we had murdered our neighbor William George Wandyaka and we had to face a death sentence. We realized the Judge was bribed to sentence us to death. There were no investigation in our case and we were sent to Luzira Maximum Security Prison to face death, we realized the chairman was doing this to punish our family /our father.

Later we made an appeal in the Court of Appeal, the Judge in this Court said that the High Court Judge who sentenced us to death, Justice Katinti, was a respected judge with a sound mind, and they could not reverse his decision. I tried to convince the court to shift the hearing to the village so that the community could testify but I failed to convince the court, they sent us back to death row.

This was our final hope, because it is the last court in Uganda. We were filled with fear and surprised about the decision of a respected court. We had to go back to face death. I lost hope completely because it is very hard to reverse the death sentence; though my parents tried to secure my release they failed and gave up on me.

All this was happening while George William Wandyaka was in hiding enjoying life in Jinja one of the district in Uganda.

Most of the prison authorities knew that I was innocent after a local journalist had spoken about my story on TV station. This also helped me survive hanging; many people knew I was innocent.

One day we received visitors in prison and I explained to them my situation, they went back to the village and made all the necessary investigations and submitted a report to the attorney general in Uganda, who forwarded it to the president of Uganda. I was pardoned. I had spent 18 years on death row and two years on remand, innocently.
I was not compensated for the time I spent in Jail and nobody said “sorry “.

I wanted to sue the government but I feared for my brothers and sister who need to be forgiven, this could discourage the state from forgiving others. Besides it could cause more insecurity in my life.

When I came out of prison I made efforts to meet George William Wandyaka, but I failed. We used to speak on the phone; rumors went to him that I was going to use the police to arrest him. He thought I was angry about him and I would do anything for revenge. So he avoided any contact with me. I wanted to do a video with him to help me in my fight against the death penalty. Unfortunately George William Wandyaka died of Aids 2 years after my release.

My work in the abolition of death penalty; I joined the international abolition movement working to end the death penalty. I have worked with ECPM in France/End to capital punishment movement. I have worked with Amnesty international at the United Nations in New York campaigning for a moratorium on executions in all UN member states and it was a positive campaign. I represented Uganda in the 3rd World Congress against the Death Penalty in France. I have talked about death penalty in United States working with the Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing. I have been in Italy working with the Community of Sentegdio, speaking in various cities in Italy. Also I have travelled in Africa working to end the death penalty.

Edward

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 September 2011 21:36

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