It is now a year since Dr Kizza Besigye and aide Obeid Lutale were abducted from Nairobi, Kenya, blindfolded, and driven overnight across the border to Kampala and charged before the military court. In an exclusive interview at his home in Mutundwe, on the outskirts of Kampala City, Lutale’s wife Halimah speaks about the struggles by the family to survive amid rising costs of living, with Lutale, the breadwinner, locked away.
How is the family coping with the absence of Obeid Lutale?
He was everything to us: a breadwinner, and many people are standing with us in this, and we thank them. I can’t mention everybody, friends, and families. Everybody is working hard to ensure we are okay, and that is because he is a good person.
Since he was the breadwinner, how do you survive now?
As a wife, I have to work hard, I’m a juicer. It has been my work even before he was arrested. But I don’t have that daily income now. But I thank Allah that I’m coping.
How has his absence impacted you over time?
As a family, we are hurt because every time there are challenges, we think of him. But now I’m the one taking care of him in Luzira prison, and that is hard for me and the children.
How often do you visit him in Luzira?
I go there every Wednesday. I couldn’t manage visiting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, I decided to go there once every week to manage it.
So when you go, do you get the chance to talk to him?
Yes, I do. You know we use phones to talk through a glass partition, you can’t talk one-on-one, and that is hurting because for a person who was always there, daily, and you now visit him only once a week! You can’t even hug him, because he’s barricaded behind a glass.
Whenever you go to see them, what do you take to him?
I take fresh food and beverages because everything has to be from home since he can’t take the prison’s food. He turned 66 years old on November 2, so he is an old man who had never been arrested, not even by the local council authorities, or by the police. This is the first time for him to be in prison, so he needs provisions from home.
Weekly, I spend between Shs300,000 and Shs400,000 to buy his food and other needs in Luzira. We also spend on fuel to visit him in Luzira. The support comes from our family savings, our older children, relatives, and friends.
When you speak to him, how is he coping?
He was healthy, but he developed hypertension immediately after his arrest, and he has even become diabetic. But I can’t say he’s okay because he needs to be out. As an old man, to take a year, being in that situation is not easy. Nowadays, he can’t do any exercise and is developing a big body. I fear he’s going to get some complications because he’s not used to that kind of setting and life.
What does he say when you speak to him?
He tells me he knows nothing about the accusation against him and Dr Besigye. He knew nothing because he had just gone for [Kenyan lawyer and opposition leader] Martha Karua’s book launch and was to return that Monday. So, no one can say somebody was carrying a gun when he passed via Entebbe airport, and Nairobi International Airport, you can’t go through airports with a gun unless it is registered. But he has never even used a gun.
Who is Obeid as a politician?
First of all, they were friends with Dr Besigye since the days of the Reform Agenda [forerunner of the Forum for Democratic Change party]. He is a quiet man, and some people didn’t even know him and are wondering why he was arrested with Dr Besigye. But they are friends, and as friends, they travel, talk, and do many things together. He is only a politician who backs others and has not even tried to stand for any elective position, not even when he was prodded to go for a seat in Rubaga South to replace Ms Joyce Ssebugwawo, who was appointed minister, but he refused.
So, who is Obeid Lutale as a family person?
He is a good husband and a friend. He’s a good father, and he cares a lot about his children and the old people around him. Here, we have been with many people living together, including grandchildren. He’s so loving as a father and a grandparent now.
As he faces charges in the courts, who is footing his legal bills?
I think his legal bills are squared by the party, not us. It is the party, and we thank them a lot because they have stood with them for a year. We have never forgotten it.
What is your wish?
My wish is to see them released so that they come back home. If they have any charges, let the government be straight, not going here and there. Justice delayed is justice denied because, as you see, we reached a mandatory bail, but they refused to grant it, saying they had spent four months, when it was seven, because it is six months in the law. You can see all the bail applications are being dumped. My wish is for the government to release them because they know nothing, and they have nothing right now.
What is his mood and spirit when you speak to him in jail?
As of now, he has to accept it because it is the order of the day. Even if you say, I’m not happy, you remain there. He is not happy, but he’s still there. All the time, he tells you to pray so that they get out. And all the time they want to get out, come to court, and talk with us. They aim to come out because they know nothing; they did nothing.
What is that particular attribute you miss about Obeid Lutale?
I miss everything because he is my friend. He’s the person who comes back daily and tells you everything from the time you gave him breakfast to the time he returns. Every day, for 30 years now we have been married, everything about that man is that he is someone who wants to be there, talking with everyone. I miss his jokes, I miss his presence, and I miss everything.
You know Obeid is a farmer and has kalitunsi (eucalyptus trees), which he planted. By the time he was arrested, he had started growing these, and he also has avocados, the short ones. He left them when they had not even put out fruit, but now they have fruited twice. That is too much for him because he loves his farm work. He used to go to the gym every day, but he’s no longer doing that because he no longer works in the office. After the gym, he would go shopping, and he is never one who roams. He’s a family man who would spend most of the time with his family.
What would you say or do if the President wants to meet you over Lutale?
Should he say he wants to meet us, we can, because we don’t know him, and he doesn’t know me. But if he says ‘the people of this person come and talk to me,’ we can go. And we can tell him that we know nothing, and he knows nothing. We can beg for his release.
How big is this family?
He has one family, with me as the wife and these children. The other family members are his father, the sisters, aunties, and many more are outside. You see, for the man, you can’t say he has this number of children because every time you get people, you adopt, you do many things as a man, but their children are there. Some of them you may know.
How has Lutale’s arrest affected your business?
His arrest has affected me a lot because most of my clients are no longer interested in taking my calls. They don’t call me, and when you text them, they say, ‘I will get back to you’. Sometimes they say ‘your calls are being tapped’. So, they no longer interact with me for business, and that has caused me a lot of pain.