At around 4:45 a.m. on Thursday, 24 September 2026, Moses Matovu stepped out of his Land Rover in Zone B of Kibuli Market, Kampala. He was heading to the nearby mosque for morning prayers. Moments later he was lying on the ground with a serious head injury. He was rushed to Kibuli Hospital but did not survive. At the scene, investigators found bloodstains and recovered a concrete paver.
The investigation moved quickly. Kampala Metropolitan Police say they arrested Vincent Nsamba, a 41-year-old private security guard, in Nansana Division, Wakiso District. He allegedly punched the musician during a confrontation involving his girlfriend. Matovu is said to have fallen and struck his head hard on the ground. The woman at the centre of the dispute is also being held by criminal investigators, who searched the room she rents. « Investigations are continuing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident and how Matovu sustained the injuries that led to his death, » said Rachael Kawala, spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan Police. No court has yet established guilt.
His death is more than a crime story. A whole chapter of Ugandan culture has closed. Born on 19 June 1949 in Kawempe, Moses Matovu started out in 1967 as a singer with the Thunderbirds. He went on to play with the Uganda Police Band and then the Cranes Band. In 1975 he co-founded Afrigo Band and led it for more than fifty years as bandleader, lead saxophonist and frontman. Under his direction it became the country’s longest-running active band. Its songs, among them « Akola Bwenkanya », « Enneyisa », « Rose Guma » and « Sikulimba », have been sung by several generations.
Those who worked with him describe a demanding man, both musical director and keeper of discipline, loyal to a brass-driven sound that outlasted every passing trend. At a time when digital production dominates the music scene, he never stopped championing music played live. He also had a quieter passion for football and would sometimes turn up at training sessions.
In keeping with Muslim tradition, he was buried the next day, 25 September, in Kyanja. His death leaves the music world with an open question: what becomes of Afrigo Band without the man who embodied its identity for half a century? For now, Uganda mourns a pioneer and waits for the courts to shed light on how he died.