The tragic death of Moses Matovu, the veteran Afrigo Band leader, has revived memories of another unsolved night in Kampala: the 1997 killing of rally driver Gerald Kiddu.
The two men lived in different worlds, but the circumstances of their deaths share striking similarities.
Matovu, 77, died at Kibuli Hospital, where he was taken after he was attacked in Kibuli.
Police, in a statement on X, said he went to his girlfriend’s home at about 5.30 am. As the two were leaving, a man who had previously been in a relationship with the woman confronted them.
Police have arrested the woman, whose identity is yet to be disclosed. They said the man, who attacked Matovu, had also been identified but fled the scene.
Early media reports said Matovu was on his way to a mosque for morning prayers, but his family said he was returning from work on Wednesday night.
Neighbours said the suspect first knocked on the woman’s door and was ignored. The suspect then shattered the glass of one of the windows to try to force the two out.
Kiddu’s death followed a similar path. He was 40 when he was shot dead at about 2.30 am on May 16, 1997. It happened at a woman friend’s house in Bunga, a Kampala suburb.
It was later established that the woman, Harriet Kasiimire, was Kiddu’s mistress. Gunmen who had trailed the pair ordered the door opened. When it stayed shut, they shot through it, killing Kiddu.
The first parallel in the two deaths is the hour of the attack. Both Kiddu and Matovu were attacked in the dark, before dawn.
The second is the nature of the places where they were killed. Kiddu, known for his flamboyance, was killed in a shanty house in Bunga while Matovu died in Kibuli, outside the woman’s house.
The third similarity is what happened to the women after the tragic deaths of their lovers. Kasiimire was arrested and charged with murder in June 1997. She spent 13 months in jail before she was acquitted for lack of evidence.
The woman in Matovu’s case is also in custody. Police say she is helping detectives with their inquiries.
Yet the differences matter too. Kiddu was killed by gunmen while Matovu was hit with a blunt object, according to preliminary investigations.
Kiddu’s case, it later emerged, had a money angle. He worked for Dembe Enterprises, owned by Karim Hirji, and it was alleged that he was moving large sums of money that night.
In Matovu’s case, police suspect it was a personal dispute.
Kiddu’s killers were never brought to justice. A judicial commission led by Justice Julia Sebutinde recommended that Scotland Yard detectives take it up. Police later opened fresh investigations, but no report was produced.
Investigations into the death of Matovu may yield positive results because the police say they know who the male suspect is.
The question is whether the police can build a case that stands up in a court of law.
