The living history of Bob Kasango

Before going to prison, he bad been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. For nearly a year he could barely work or walk. He spent a lot of time in hospital, often on oxygen. He needed urgent medical attention abroad but the DPP vigorously opposed his application for a passport and the judge agreed. They claimed Bob was faking his illness, in spite of letters by some of the best doctors recommending his urgent medical attention abroad. Many people are broken by adversity and for a while I feared the burden of his trial and the stress from the biased press would push Bob over the cliff. But he held on.

Yet when he went to jail, Bob seemed to recover. I recognized his inner fighting spirit was ticking. He was determined to prove his innocence and stage a dramatic comeback. He acted like he had made a strategic retreat, preparing his offensive to return to the stage. The disease that had threatened to kill him now seemed to be in miraculous retreat. In prison Bob found renewed energy and vitality.

He read books, reflected, introspected. He developed an incredible insight into the weaknesses and strength of both the judicial and prison system and began writing a treatise on how to improve the system. When I visit prisoners, all they talk about are their troubles – the people who betrayed them, those who fought them and the injustice they are facing, which is understandable.

Yet Bob rarely complained about the injustice meted against him, or his personal situation. In almost all cases, he talked for the forgotten inmates of Luzira: men wrongly incarcerated, others lacking legal representation, those with medical or family problems, and sought my assistance to help them. It is rare to find such a selfless soul – concerned about the issues of everyone else when his own weighed heavily on him. Who does that?

That was Bob, instead of jail putting him down, it fired his creativity, inspired his brain, stimulated his intellect, challenged his assumptions and gave him a new purpose. He had no time for self-pity, never allowed his anger to cloud his judgment or let short term reversals undermine his optimism and his enduring faith in a bright future. He saw in every setback an opportunity to learn, in every misfortune a chance to sit back and reflect and in every disaster the stirrings of his imagination, giving him new horizons.

Thus in Luzira, physically weak and sickly, seemingly crushed by a 16 year sentence and bad press, Bob bounced back with renewed energy and vitality. He helped extend legal services to other inmates – for free: listened to their cases, provided them advice on how to go about their cases (how to plead or appeal), wrote their appeals and using his friends paid some of their legal bills making them feel treasured, cared for and human again. Within two months of him in Luzira, he had helped over 50 inmates get their freedom.

He became a lecturer inside the prison teaching law and helping inmates get degrees from the University of London. He read books, lectured and tutored, wrote and analysed, helped his inmate-students focus, inspired them to look beyond their prison environment to a future after prison. The prison officials too were both intrigued and inspired by Bob’s selflessness, his boundless energy, his enduring optimism and his unbroken and unbreakable spirit.

He organized inmates to pray and fellowship with the Lord, invited prison officials to communion with him and other inmates making everyone feel equal and loved. Prison warders fell in love with Bob; they always went to him for advice or to seek help to solve their problems using his large network of friends. He became a celebrity, a mentor, saviour and adviser to many and thus earned a place as a sage of Luzira Maximum Security Prison.

Bob derived satisfaction, fulfilment, meaning and purpose in life from helping others. I have met few generous persons who can even compete. His generosity knew no boundaries. Initially, his generous spirit made me feel guilty because I just lacked the inner spirit to give endlessly without expecting a return. But then I realized this should instead inspire me as well and make me a better person to my family, friends and the community around me.

Yet in little efforts to help others, I could never match Bob. Wherever he went, he expressed his gratitude to those who served him by learning their names, asking about their lives and giving them tips. In banks and restaurants, in clinics and clubs, on planes and in taxes, Bob always gave generous tips to those who served him and established relationships with them that survive to date.

Whenever he visited our offices at The Independent, staff crowded around him, listening to him discourse on social, political and business issues. He was a Socrates surrounded by Plato, Crito, Antisthenes, Aristippus, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Alcibiades, etc. Then Bob would be in his element: rigorous, insightful, ambient, dashing, humorous, witty, poetic. He just commanded presence and got respect and admiration. Staff just felt good being around him.

Aside from his discourses, he listened to the personal and family problems of staff, understood their struggles, then digested their aspirations and challenges and wherever and whenever possible extended help – in form of a connection or money or just advice.

Anyone who met Bob would immediately feel the tinge of his magnificent personality. He never lost hope, never lost his humour, never got bitter, never lost faith in the goodness of the human soul, never lost his cool, never abandoned his friends. He got angry and frustrated but that was only momentary. He possessed and inspiring ability to stand out of the moment and keep his gaze at the big picture.

Bob was a committed Christian who believed that life on earth was only a short stint to life eternal. We know he has gone to communion with God. To his dear wife Nice and his kids Samora, Stephie and Ivana, your grief should be relieved by the fact that Bob has not died. He has retired from this world to the next and is waiting for you to join him.

To those who knew him, Bob was not perfect, and he would have been the first person to admit this. He made many mistakes and misjudgments. But looking at his life, one conclusion is unmistakable: he was much bigger than those mistakes.