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Five things you need to know about the murder of Afrigo’s Moses Matovu

Editorial Team/Staff Writers

A man smiling for the camera, wearing a brown suit jacket over a black shirt, holding a saxophone. The background features warm, red lighting.

On Thursday, Ugandans woke up to the terrible news of the suspected murder of Afrigo Band co-founder Moses Matovu. The news came after the murders of rugby player Sydney Gongodyo and Sports Club Villa captain David Owori, which occurred over the past few months and shocked the nation. Many have since drawn parallels, but information OJ-UGANDA has pieced together suggests the famed musician was killed in an altercation over a woman.

  1. The Afrigo Band’s co-founder was not killed in the same way as rugby player Sydney Gongodyo and Sports Club Villa captain David Owori, who were both attacked by thugs. According to media reports, Mr Matovu met a woman named Rose Tusiime in a bar in Kibuli and bought her drinks. They both left the bar and went to Ms Tusiime’s muzigo (one-room apartment). After entering, a man police identified as Vincent Arnold Nsamba smashed the glass window of Ms Tusiime’s room, forcing Mr Moses to go out and see what had happened. Mr Nsamba punched Ms Tusiime then turned on Mr Matovu and punched him too. He fell to the ground and hit the back of his head on the tarmac, sustaining serious injuries. A boda-boda man rushed him to Kibuli Hospital, but he was pronounced dead a few minutes after first aid was administered.
  1.  Rose Tusiime is at the centre of the fight that led to Mr Matovu’s death. He and Mr Nsamba had a romantic interest in the woman. Residents said Mr Nsamba, a security guard, was paying rent for Ms Tusiime and was angry that she was in the room with another man. When Mr Nsamba was asking her to open the door, she claimed the man was her father. Reports also said Ms Tusiime is well known in the Kibuli market. It is unclear what she does for a living and whether the police will open any charges against her.
  1.  Police have since arrested Mr Nsamba in connection with the murder of Mr Matovu, according to media reports. But by press time, the police had not released any update about Mr Nsamba’s arrest. Their statement, the second they released about the incident, said preliminary information indicated there was a physical altercation. “However, the exact circumstances surrounding the confrontation and subsequent death are yet to be fully established […] The female suspect remains in police custody and is assisting detectives with the ongoing investigations,” the statement said.
  2. It is unclear how the police will prosecute the offence. They have not said whether they will charge Mr Nsamba with murder or manslaughter. Several people claimed they witnessed the confrontation fight between Mr Nsamba and Mr Matovu and will likely help in police investigations.
  3. Moses Matovu co-founded Afrigo Bank in the 1970s. Co-founders included Tony Senkebejje and Charles Sekyanzi. Afrigo remains Uganda’s best-known band, and its timeless music is popular with young and older Ugandans. The band has held concerts in different places across Kampala. In the early 1990s, it was performing in Gaba, then moved to Bombo Road, Calendar Rest House in Makindye and Obligato in the Industrial Area.

The killing of Mr Matovu has echoes of the 1997 unresolved murder of top rally driver Gerald Kiddu who was murdered in a muzigo of a woman he was having a convivial evening with. In November 2009, former army commander James Kazini was also killed by his girlfriend Lydia Draru at her rented house in Namuwongo.

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