How ‘Heartbroken’ Ex-Lover of Moses Matovu’s Girlfriend Ended Veteran Musician’s Life. Police Identify Killer

The final hours of veteran Afrigo Band musician Moses Matovu began with an early-morning visit to the home of his girlfriend and ended in a violent confrontation that has left one of Uganda’s celebrated musicians dead and a suspected killer on the run.

According to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Racheal Kawala, preliminary investigations have established that Matovu went to his girlfriend’s residence at about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

What happened next has become the centre of a murder investigation.

Police say Matovu and the woman were leaving the residence when they were allegedly confronted by a man who had previously been in a relationship with the same woman.

The encounter is now being investigated as the possible turning point in the death of the veteran musician.

Kawala said the woman was subsequently arrested and that preliminary information obtained by detectives points to a physical altercation.

“Following the arrest of the female who was in the company of the deceased, preliminary information indicates that the incident may have arisen from a physical altercation,” Kawala said.

She, however, cautioned that investigators had not yet established the complete circumstances surrounding the confrontation.

“The exact circumstances surrounding the confrontation and subsequent death are yet to be fully established,” she said.

A confrontation turns deadly

For Matovu, the encounter ended with serious injuries.

As he lay injured, a boda boda rider reportedly rushed him to Kibuli Hospital in an attempt to save his life.

But the injuries proved fatal, and the celebrated musician later died at the hospital.

His death has since sent shockwaves through Uganda’s music industry, particularly among musicians and fans who knew him as one of the longstanding figures associated with Afrigo Band.

Behind the public grief, however, detectives are now reconstructing the moments before the attack, including what triggered the confrontation and what exactly happened between Matovu, his girlfriend and the man police say had previously been romantically involved with her.

Police identify the man they want

The investigation took another significant turn after detectives positively identified the male suspect.

According to Kawala, the suspect did not remain at the scene.

“He is believed to have fled the scene,” she said, adding that police are actively pursuing him.

His identification gives investigators a specific person to trace as they seek to establish his alleged role in Matovu’s death.

Police have not, however, said that the full circumstances of the killing have been conclusively established.

The suspect remains at large, while the woman who was with Matovu at the time of the confrontation is in police custody.

Kawala said the female suspect is assisting detectives with the investigation.

The unanswered questions

The police account has raised a series of questions that detectives are now working to answer.

What exactly triggered the confrontation outside the residence?

Was the encounter spontaneous, or had there been an earlier dispute?

What happened during the alleged physical altercation?

And how did Matovu sustain the injuries that eventually claimed his life?

At this stage, police have described the information available to them as preliminary.

Investigators are also examining the different accounts surrounding the incident before reaching conclusions about what happened.

That leaves the alleged romantic rivalry as an important line of inquiry, rather than an established final motive for the killing.

The identity of the male suspect has been established by police, but his alleged involvement and the precise circumstances leading to Matovu’s death remain matters for the ongoing investigation.

A career ends in violence

Matovu’s death marks a sudden and violent end to the life of a musician whose career was closely associated with Afrigo Band, one of Uganda’s most enduring musical groups.

The circumstances of his final hours are now starkly different from the stage on which he spent much of his life.

Rather than ending another performance, his last journey began at dawn at a private residence in Kibuli and ended hours later at a hospital after a reported confrontation.

Police are now pursuing the man they have identified as the main male suspect while continuing to question the woman who was with Matovu.

Kawala appealed for calm as detectives work to reconstruct the events.

“We assure the public that all necessary steps are being taken to apprehend the suspect and establish the facts of the matter,” she said.

For now, the central pieces of the case are still being assembled: a 5:30 a.m. visit, a confrontation involving a woman and her former partner, a violent altercation, a desperate boda boda ride to hospital, and the death of a veteran musician.

The suspect may have been identified, but police say the full story of what happened to Moses Matovu has yet to be established.

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