HOT TEMPERED! Fresh Details Emerge on Vincent Nsamba — Kickboxer Who Once Worked for Musician Moses Matovu But ‘Killed’ Him Over Girlfriend

For years, Vincent Nsamba was just another familiar face around neighbourhood circles—a quiet man who kept to himself, earned a living as a security guard and, at one point, worked around the very musician whose death has now placed him at the centre of a murder investigation.

But behind Nsamba’s apparently calm demeanour was another side that people who knew him say could emerge when he became angry.

He had experience in kickboxing, according to Abdul Nasser Mukasa, the LC1 chairperson of Kibuli Zone Market B.

And now, following the death of veteran Afrigo Band musician Moses Matovu, 77, Nsamba is in police custody as the prime suspect in a case that began with an early morning confrontation over a woman.

The circumstances surrounding that confrontation, and what happened in the minutes that followed, have turned Nsamba from a relatively unknown security guard into the central figure in one of the most shocking cases to hit Uganda’s music fraternity this week.

From loading Afrigo Band equipment to a murder investigation

One of the most striking details emerging about Nsamba is that he was reportedly once part of the machinery behind Matovu’s music career.

According to local accounts, Nsamba previously worked as a casual labourer helping Matovu’s Afrigo Band load musical instruments and public-address equipment.

It was work that placed him close to the veteran musician, although there is no indication that the two had a close personal relationship.

Matovu, meanwhile, had spent decades building his reputation as one of Uganda’s most respected musicians.

His saxophone became one of the sounds associated with Afrigo Band, while his compositions and mentorship helped cement his place in Uganda’s musical history.

On Wednesday evening, September 23, Matovu was still performing.

He attended a farewell function for Petroleum Authority of Uganda chief executive Ernest Rubondo at Sheraton Gardens in Kampala alongside his Afrigo Band colleagues.

By the following morning, he was dead.

The 5:30am encounter

According to police, the chain of events began at about 5:30am on Thursday, September 24.

After leaving the Sheraton Gardens event, Matovu went to the home of Rose Tumusiime in Kibuli.

Tumusiime was reportedly Nsamba’s girlfriend.

Police say Nsamba encountered Matovu and Tumusiime as they were leaving the house.

What followed was a confrontation in which Nsamba allegedly questioned Matovu about his relationship with Tumusiime.

The police account says the confrontation escalated, with Nsamba allegedly punching both Matovu and Tumusiime.

Matovu was seriously injured and began bleeding heavily.

A boda boda rider identified as Paul reportedly took him to Kibuli Hospital.

He later died.

The death transformed what might initially have appeared to be a private confrontation into a homicide investigation.

The woman at the centre of the confrontation

Tumusiime’s relationship with Nsamba has since become a key part of the emerging account.

Local sources describe the two as lovers who had been meeting as a couple.

It is also alleged that Tumusiime had previously told Nsamba that Matovu was only her friend.

Whether that explanation played any role in the confrontation is something investigators are expected to establish.

Police subsequently arrested Tumusiime.

According to the police brief, she helped detectives trace Nsamba, who was eventually arrested at Yesu Amara in Nansana, Wakiso District.

He is now being held as the prime suspect in the case registered at Kabalagala Police Station under CRB 1072/2026.

The police brief also contains an allegation that Tumusiime was heard telling Nsamba to run because he could be arrested if Matovu died.

The meaning and circumstances of that alleged statement have not been independently established and remain subject to investigation.

The man neighbours say could change when angry

For people who knew Nsamba in Kibuli, the arrest has brought renewed attention to his temperament.

Mukasa, the local LC1 chairperson, described Nsamba as a humble and quiet man.

But he also said Nsamba had experience in kickboxing, a skill he reportedly acquired years ago in Kisugu, Namuwongo.

That martial arts background has become an unsettling detail following the allegations surrounding Matovu’s death.

There are also accounts of previous disputes between Nsamba and Tumusiime.

Mukasa confirmed that the couple had reportedly fought before.

Neighbours are said to have alleged that Nsamba once severely beat Tumusiime during one of their disputes.

According to those accounts, women in the neighbourhood were unable to restrain him, forcing a village defence secretary to intervene.

Those accounts remain allegations and have not, by themselves, established what happened during the confrontation with Matovu.

But they have contributed to a portrait of a man whom some neighbours considered generally quiet yet capable of becoming difficult to restrain when angry.

A shocking connection

Perhaps the most disturbing element of the case is how closely the paths of Matovu and Nsamba had crossed before Thursday morning.

Nsamba was reportedly once involved in the logistical side of Matovu’s music career, helping move the instruments and equipment that supported Afrigo Band performances.

Years later, police allege that the same man became involved in a confrontation that ended with Matovu’s death.

The two stories—music and violence—now sit uneasily beside each other.

Matovu’s final hours had begun in celebration.

He had performed with fellow Afrigo Band musicians at Sheraton Gardens, surrounded by colleagues and members of Uganda’s music fraternity.

A few hours later, he was fighting for his life after an alleged confrontation in Kibuli.

The questions investigators must now answer

Nsamba’s arrest has answered only one part of the mystery.

Police still have to establish precisely what happened between Matovu, Tumusiime and Nsamba that morning.

They will also have to determine how the confrontation escalated, the exact injuries Matovu sustained, the circumstances that led to his death and whether anyone else played a role.

For now, Nsamba remains a suspect, not a convicted killer.

The allegations about his temper, previous fights and kickboxing background may form part of the wider investigation, but they do not by themselves establish responsibility for Matovu’s death.

What is already clear is that a veteran musician who had spent decades entertaining Ugandans ended his final night on stage and his final morning in a Kibuli confrontation that has left the country’s music industry in mourning.

And at the centre of the investigation is a man who, according to those who knew him, rarely appeared threatening—until he became angry.

You can read about the net worth and full biography of Moses Matovu and how a heartbroken ex-lover ended his life over girlfriend  Here and There.