‘I had to be head of the home’

During the time, Sentambule was in jail, his wife, Julian Gombya, became the family head, a role that became unenviable every other passing day. She had to deal with the heartache of a husband in jail and comforting their young family that was in distress. And then naturally, there was a change in lifestyles for the family.

“I was jobless. Since we were working together at our company when it collapsed, I had nowhere to turn. There were running bank loans and we could not manage to keep importing. I had two children and five dependants and every day became more challenging for us to survive emotionally and otherwise,” Julian explains as she holds her husband’s hand in a show of affection.

His company survived another two years after his incarceration before closing shop. “I tried to be strong as a single parent. Soon we were thrown out of the house and we had to look for a house, which I was able to pay for, thanks to friends and relatives who had remained by our side,” Julian recalls.

She adds: “I had to sell off the vehicles, Honda Odyssey, Rover Convertible, Land rover and the taxi/matatu. Eventually, I sold off the stock in the shop. We had to pay legal fees. We used three lawyers at about Shs20m on top of bail fees. Each time, we had to pay lawyers Shs5m to represent us. Then we had running loans. So, I sold the property to be able to clear loans because we were not actively selling.”

The woes were not over. The exclusion of luxury also included years without holidays that had become part of routine every year, change in meals and for one daughter a change in her career prospects, from becoming an actress to a lawyer to help people like her father get justice.

“My wife remained loyal. She came visiting every Monday and Wednesday for two years then every Friday for the other two years with help of her sister-in-law,” Sentambule says, adjusting his hat. “I would tell him that he would be out when God’s time is best, when the DPP department was put right,” Julian recounts as she runs her hands over her husband’s back. “Hope was restored when he was released on September 21, 2011 for four days. But then, he got re-arrested when he went to the DPP to get his passport. I did not lose hope but got more aggressive in my prayers,” Julian recollects.

After her husband’s re-arrest, she wrote a letter addressed to the Judicial Commission, expressing her disappointment in court as she emotively detailed the chronology of events, from the day her husband was arrested. When he was finally set free, Julian says, she gave all the thanks to God, that her prayers had been answered.