My sister Eva always saw me and ran - Pablo

Pablo, Kenneth Kimuli

How would you describe Eva?
Eva is intelligent, cheeky yet humble, hardworking, prayerful, and very generous. She is spotlessly beautiful with skin evenly toned and smooth like that of a baby. Eye contact with her will elicit a genuine smile that makes her even more beautiful.

What is your earliest memory of her?
She loved playing very much. She would come home from Shimoni Demonstration School tired, and pass out till morning without taking supper. She would wake up the following morning, wash the uniform, dry it by squeezing it in a towel, iron it, and off to school the next day. It was routine. I guess they used to buy her a new uniform every term.

What nickname did you have for her?
Kapyata! It was slang for new or up-to-date. Eva knew the latest information.
She was dramatic, loved dancing and singing. She knew every new song and artiste. She even had a book where she wrote song lyrics and she would glue photos from chewing gum wrappers to beautify the page.

What is she most scared of?
Snakes. Just talking about them freaks her out. If you want anything from her just start talking about snakes. Sometimes I think it is because of her name Eva and the biblical snake in the garden of Eden.

What is the craziest thing she did as a child?
There was a time she went missing with a neighbour, Julian Nabaasa (RIP). The block of flats where we lived on Wampewo Avenue, Kololo was thrown into panic. The duo finally showed up. When questioned, they said they wanted to gauge how much power they wielded.

What is the craziest thing you did together?
I don’t remember doing anything crazy with her. We spent most of our childhood apart. We were taken up by different families after our parents’ death.

Were you always friends?
Yes, and we are still friends. She used to wait for me on our way to school even if she was running late. She always looked out for me. She had just got a job at Mango Tree now Kabira Country Club and sacrificed her salary to pay my university tuition. I stayed with her and my other sister after university. She sheltered and fed us until we were ready to fly on our own.

How often did you fight?
I don’t know whether we ever fought but sometimes she would see me and run. I think I was ugly.

Did you ever team up to fight someone?
No, we never. However, we held a dance battle with our neighbours.

How often do you meet?
At least once a month. We used to meet almost on a daily when she was working at the Uganda National Cultural Centre (National Theatre) as the education officer. The demands in the private sector especially in the entertainment industry often keep you away from family. You have to be deliberate to meet with family.

What is your earliest memory of him?
Ken had lots of friends in his age group. We lived on a flat and somehow we always teamed up according to age. It is of late that I came to know what actually occupied them; they would watch films through people’s windows.

Eva Tumwesigye

How would you describe Kenneth?
A man who has my mother’s brain and my father’s humour; may their souls rest in peace. Our mother was very intelligent. She excelled in academics and my father was the dramatic and happy man in our household. We always referred to him as “our man”.

What nickname did you have for him?
Mukombozi was the name our father called him probably because he was born around the time Amin’s regime was about to collapse. This name slowly rubbed on to our father’s workmates and friends.

What is he most scared of?
I think thieves that attack at night scare the hell out of him. He once held out a folk to scare the thieves away when they attacked our sister’s home in Mbarara.

What is the craziest thing he did as a child?
During the war in 1985-86, we were stranded in Fort Portal after we went for holidays. This was after the Obote regime had collapsed. Roads to the west were closed off and for six months, we had to brave village life. Being children, we always wandered off to other homesteads. There was this particular home whose occupation was brewing waragi and tonto. The whole village would know that at so and so’s place, it is party time and this would go on for days and nights until the alcohol finished.
On this fateful day, Ken decided to indulge. Little did he know that there was a condition called getting drunk. It was around 1pm when we were told that he had too much to drink and was struggling to get home. I had never seen my mother that scared.
Our grandmother Akiiki (RIP), a paternal aunt to our father convinced him to drink tonto claiming it was the village Pepsi soda. She one time took him on a drinking spree and he burnt down our outside kitchen.

What is the craziest thing you did together?
Nothing really since we were separated early after our father passed on. I am sure there would have been lots of mischief.

Were you always friends?
Yes, like sister taking care of a young brother.

How often did you fight?
He always managed to send me running scared for help or else he beat me up. This got everyone in the house laughing because he is three years younger than me. Literally, a baby would be chasing after a grown girl.

Did you ever team up to fight someone?
No, we never got the chance to do any mischief because we got separated at an early age.

How often do you meet?
Maybe once or twice a month.