Uganda’s music fraternity has lost more than a musician in Moses Matovu; it has lost one of the pillars who helped give the country’s music industry its identity.
That was the message from celebrated singer Mesach Ssemakula as artists, family members, friends and mourners gathered at Kibuli Mosque to pay their final respects to the late Afrigo Band founder.
Ssemakula, speaking during the funeral service, described Matovu as an irreplaceable figure whose influence stretched across generations of Ugandan musicians.
“In the art industry, we have lost a pillar who is irreplaceable. He was our inspiration in my generation — him, Philly Lutaaya, Frank Mbalire, Hope Mukasa and others.”
For Ssemakula, Matovu’s greatness was rooted in more than his musical talent. He represented a generation of artists who built their careers around Ugandan audiences and culture.
“He was for Ugandans, and that is why we are here,” Ssemakula said.
He said the presence of artists and mourners at Kibuli was itself a reflection of the debt the industry owed Matovu.
“It is our responsibility to see that we lead the last journey of our great legend,” he added.
A brother remembers their last meeting
The grief was particularly personal for James Waasula, Matovu’s stepbrother and one of the remaining founding figures associated with Afrigo Band.
Waasula revealed that he had been preparing to meet Matovu again, only to receive the shocking news of his death.
What made the loss even more poignant was that the two had spoken just weeks earlier about the future of Afrigo Band.
“Two weeks back we had a meeting talking about the issue of unity, and we emphasised so much…” Waasula recalled.
He used the memory of that conversation to make an appeal to Afrigo members: remain united.
For Waasula, preserving the unity of the band would be one of the clearest ways of honouring Matovu’s memory.
The appeal comes at a significant moment for Afrigo Band, one of Uganda’s longest-running musical groups. Matovu spent decades at the centre of the band, helping it survive changing musical tastes, generations of musicians and the shifting fortunes of Uganda’s entertainment industry.
More than a bandleader
Matovu’s contribution to Ugandan music extended beyond the songs and performances associated with Afrigo Band.
He was part of a generation that helped establish live music as a major part of Uganda’s cultural life, while Afrigo became known for blending Ugandan musical traditions with influences including Congolese rumba and jazz.
Over the decades, the band became an institution in its own right, with Matovu serving as one of its most recognisable figures.
For younger musicians such as Ssemakula, that legacy was deeply personal.
The names he mentioned alongside Matovu — including Philly Lutaaya, Frank Mbalire and Hope Mukasa — represent an earlier generation whose music and careers helped shape the environment in which today’s artists emerged.
Matovu’s death therefore leaves behind a question larger than who will replace him on stage: how will the institution he helped build preserve the values and unity that kept it alive for decades?
‘Thank you for honouring my father’
Amid the tributes, Matovu’s family also expressed gratitude to Kibuli Mosque for allowing the funeral service to be held at the mosque.
“We thank you so much for giving my father such an honour, for his funeral service to be held here at the mosque,” the family said.
For a musician who spent much of his life performing before Ugandans, his final farewell brought together family, fellow artists and admirers from across the country’s cultural landscape.
At Kibuli, the music had fallen silent.
But the memories — of the saxophone, the songs, the band and the man behind them — remained.
And for those who knew what Matovu meant to Uganda’s music industry, his absence was already being measured against the enormous legacy he leaves behind.
