Imagine being jailed for 2 decades for a crime that never took
place? Such was the case of Mpagi Edward Edmary, a Ugandan taxi driver. Edward was
sentenced to death in 1982 for the murder of his neighbor who was still alive. He
was involved in land dispute between some families in his village and to deal
with him, they paid people to witness against him in the court. These people
lied that they saw him kill the man and dispose the body. He was on death row
for 20 years and was later released when they found out that the dead man was
hiding in another part of the country.

He narrated his experience in Kampala’s Luzira prison “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 taxpayer’s money to treat him. My brother died in
1985. This really scared me.

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.

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 the 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.”

This
is cruel!