Police have arrested a 41-year-old man suspected of killing veteran Ugandan musician Moses Matovu, following an early-morning confrontation in Kampala that investigators say may have stemmed from a dispute involving a woman.
The suspect, Vincent Nsamba, was arrested in Ochange Ward, Yesu Amala, in Nansana Division, Wakiso District, several hours after Matovu was fatally injured in Kibuli.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Rachael Kawala confirmed the arrest but said investigations were still under way to establish exactly what happened.
“The prime suspect in connection with the murder of Afrigo Band musician Matovu Moses has been arrested,” Kawala said.
She said police were continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the death and determine whether anyone else should face criminal charges.
The arrest follows a rapidly developing investigation into the death of Matovu, who was 77 and had spent decades at the centre of Uganda’s live-band music scene.
Police say the incident happened at about 5:30am on Thursday, September 24, in the Kibuli area of Makindye Division.
According to Kawala, the deceased had gone to the residence of a woman identified by police as Rose Tumusiime. Police said that as Matovu and the woman were leaving, they were confronted by a man who had previously been in a relationship with her.
A physical confrontation followed.
Police initially said they were still working to establish the precise sequence of events and the circumstances in which Matovu sustained his injuries.
“The exact circumstances surrounding the confrontation, however, are yet to be fully established,” Kawala said.
Matovu was seriously injured during the confrontation and was taken to Kibuli Hospital on a motorcycle by a boda-boda rider. He later died.
Additional details have emerged from an account reportedly given by Tumusiime to local leaders and investigators.
According to Rogers Tukamuhebwa, the Defence Secretary of Market A zone, Tumusiime told him that she returned to her rented room with Matovu at about 2am and that they remained there until around 5am.
She allegedly told him that a man she described as her former boyfriend arrived at the room and knocked on the door.
After she refused to open it, the man allegedly became aggressive and tried to force his way inside, damaging part of the door and breaking window glass.
Tukamuhebwa said Tumusiime told him the man eventually saw Matovu inside.
She allegedly told the man that Matovu was her father, but he did not accept the explanation.
According to the same account, the confrontation later moved outside.
Tukamuhebwa said Tumusiime told him she gave Matovu some water before accompanying him towards his vehicle.
She alleged that the man then confronted her again and slapped her.
Matovu is said to have intervened after seeing the woman being assaulted, at which point a fight broke out.
Police have said investigators are still verifying the different accounts.
It is alleged that the landlord came outside after hearing the disturbance at the residence and that the confrontation temporarily subsided.
Another local leader, said she had not personally spoken to Rose but had seen damage at the residence.
She described broken windows and damage around the door, which she said suggested that there had been a confrontation at the house.
She also said a second confrontation appeared to have taken place on the road after Matovu left the residence.
According to the witness accounts reported by The Independent, Matovu was punched during the roadside struggle, fell onto the pavement and suffered a serious head injury.
The precise cause of Matovu’s fatal injuries has not been independently established in the public police statement.
A boda-boda rider is said to have helped take Matovu to Kibuli Hospital.
The musician was reportedly bleeding heavily before he was transported to the hospital, where medical staff began treating him.
According to the boda boda helper, Matovu died after about 30 minutes at the hospital.
Police have confirmed that a boda-boda rider took Matovu to Kibuli Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Police say the man involved in the confrontation fled the scene.
Investigators subsequently identified him as Nsamba and launched a search that ended with his arrest in Nansana.
Police had earlier described the suspect as a security guard, although the precise employment details are part of the continuing investigation.
The woman who was with Matovu was also taken into police custody to assist investigators.
Matovu’s death has brought to an abrupt end the career of one of Uganda’s most enduring live-band musicians.
Born on June 19, 1949, in Kawempe, Kampala, Matovu began singing as a child in the Namirembe Cathedral Choir. He entered professional music in the 1960s, first performing with the Thunderbirds Band in 1967.
He later joined the Police Band and the Cranes Band before becoming one of the musicians who founded Afrigo Band in 1975.
The band went on to become one of Uganda’s longest-running and most influential live musical groups. Matovu served as a singer, saxophonist, composer and band leader and became closely associated with Uganda’s dance-band and jazz traditions.
His career spanned generations of Ugandan musicians and audiences. He continued performing with Afrigo Band into his later years and was widely regarded as one of the key figures in keeping Uganda’s live-band tradition alive.
Matovu was a widower and is survived by 11 children and several grandchildren.
The musician had been active only hours before his death.
According to reports, Matovu had attended a farewell function for Ernest Rubondo, the chief executive of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, at the Sheraton Gardens in Kampala on Wednesday evening with fellow Afrigo Band musicians.
He was later in Kibuli in the early hours of Thursday morning.
By dawn, one of Uganda’s best-known musicians was critically injured and being rushed to hospital.
By the time news reached his family, he had died.
His daughter Zaam Namatoovu said the family had just finished prayers when they were alerted that her father had been attacked. They went to the scene and were told that he had been taken to hospital, where they received confirmation of his death.
Kawala said police were continuing to gather evidence and reconstruct the events leading to Matovu’s death.
Investigators have examined the scene and the vehicle associated with Matovu as part of the inquiry. Police have also searched the residence where the confrontation reportedly began.
The arrest of Nsamba gives detectives an opportunity to obtain his account of the confrontation and compare it with statements from Rose, witnesses and other people who were at the scene.
Police have not yet publicly disclosed whether Nsamba has been formally charged.
Kawala said the investigation would continue until police establish the circumstances surrounding the death and determine responsibility.
