Eron Kiiza is a human rights lawyer; he is one of those representing controversial Makerere University researcher, Dr Stella Nyanzi.

He spoke to Quick Talk about the love for his wife and poetry.

Eh, your name is too feminine! Eron, then Kiiza; don’t people confuse you for a woman?

I have no problem with that if some people think I’m a girl; it is okay, after all, what’s wrong with being a girl?

Was there a mistake on your part, writing Eron instead of Aaron? 

No. Eron means peace and enlightenment and that has got nothing to do with male or female. I have heard people say, eeeh, Eron?

Who is Eron Kiiza?

I’m a poet and human rights lawyer. I was born on August 12, 1983 in Kabale hospital. I grew up in Ntungamo district where I studied at Rukuru primary school and Kitunga day and boarding primary school.

I repeated primary four [when I changed schools]. The new school was somehow hard, compared to my previous school.

Was there anything good about that school?

Yeah, we would escape and eat guavas; we had sessions of singing Christian hymns. So, this gave me a strong Christian foundation. 

We would also play banana fibre football in our free time. I managed to pass and went to Muntuyera High School where I was for six years.

Did you enjoy your time at Muntuyera?

It was a good school. It had good teachers, nice compound, good library; we would go in the market and buy very sweet pancakes not like these ones sold in Kampala where instead of putting sweet bananas they put sugar.

I was also a student leader throughout the six years. I was a news reader for the school, a role I liked very much. I actually thought I would become a journalist.

Why didn’t you?

It was just fate. During my S6 vacation in 2013, I visited my uncle in Kampala and found a newspaper on his table.

On opening it, they were advertising scholarships at Uganda Christian University and my cousin Kwesiga Kabumba told me to apply. I was lucky it was given to me. That’s how I ended up studying law.

That first journey to Kampala…

Haa, tell you what; even crossing the road was a problem. You would see a car and think it is really going to hit you! I would reach the middle of the road and turn back.

Hahaha…Who are your parents?

Mbabazi Alban and Asiimwe Maud. They had seven children but we are only four surviving, with me being the eldest. 

So, this ‘villager’ gets to UCU…

The most memorable moment there was when I was part of the guild tribunal and decided a controversial matter where we censured the guild president of that year.

There was evidence that he had engaged in financial impropriety. He was my friend but this did not stop me from censuring him. [Quick Talk assumes that is one less friend Kiiza now has!]

They say UCU is a very restricted place.

Life is more enjoyable at UCU than what people think. It is fairly regulated compared to other universities. It’s a good place to be spiritually because there are many opportunities to seek and deepen one’s understanding of God.

It is also a good place to find beautiful girls…

Yes, they are in plenty but some of us were not yet mentally prepared to take advantage of their presence.

You did not date at campus?

Eventually I got one towards the end of my stay at UCU but the relationship collapsed soon after university.

Sorry man! So, are you married?

Of course I’m married. To Sylvia Tumwebaze, with two beautiful daughters. 

How did you meet her?

We met in my office and exchanged numbers. I started by giving her some small work and in the course of that we were always talking. Before we knew it, I was heading to Kiruhura for introduction in February 2014. [And giving her big work…hahaha!]

Did you ever have a ‘come we stay’ relationship with her before meeting her parents?

What do you mean?  [Quick Talk explains] Yeah, we first stayed together before finally going to her parents.

Isn’t that in conflict with your Christian values?

Which specific element? Did I tell you we were having sex?

Shaa! What were you doing together?

Comradely companionship… [laughs] For you, you mean every time you’re with a lady in the house you’re indulging in that?

No comment. So, you stayed together and did nothing?

I haven’t said we did nothing, I said I didn’t do what you think we did. And I don’t think you should push that matter further…I had proposed and she had said yes; so, we had a very Christian companionship.

What do you like about her?

Humility, intelligence and she is very beautiful.

Is she a lawyer like you?

No, she is a social worker.

You too couldn’t put up with a lawyer, I can see…

Not really; if I had met one with those qualities I have said about my wife, probably I would have married her.

Do you hope to have more children?

God willing, but I have suspended that for now. My girls Agaba Amazon and Asiimwe Mbabazi are very likable children.

Some people will die to add boys to that mix.

The ideal is to have a mix of boys and girls, but if this doesn’t happen, you don’t have to fall over yourself because you are trying to have boys or girls. I celebrate every child.

What foods do you like the most, Kiiza?

I enjoy pumpkin, sweet potatoes, indigenous mushrooms, and indigenous chicken; I like especially organic foods.  
Poetry; when did you develop the interest?

It was in my house, my grandmother used to prepare big saucepans of porridge and in the evening we would converge on her home to listen to poems as we ate porridge. When I went to secondary school, my interest for poetry increased.

When I went to UCU, I somehow put it aside but it was rekindled much later after leaving school after I met the Lantern Meet of Poets in Kampala. We would meet and recite poems as we listened and critiqued our friends. That’s how I also authored an anthology called ‘Pregnant Poems’.

Why ‘pregnant poems’?

Because they are heavy on wisdom, experience, feelings and imagination; it has 110 poems touching love, politics, faith, society and global issues.

Now, why do you hate president Museveni and his government?

I don’t hate this regime. I care about them so deeply that I want them to improve. People who pretend to love this regime are sycophants who want to tongue lick whatever comes out of the emperor’s mouth.

That is not me; I will always tell the powers that be that they are going wrong. They should instead be thanking me because I want them to improve.

You must like Bobi Wine.

Yes, I like him. I think he has a youthful angle to his politics; he is lively and is making the right noise [finally, if Quick Talk dare add!].

Would you vote for him as president?

It depends on whom he is contesting against. But yes, I can vote for him.