Renowned media personality Aloysius Matovu Kizza, alias Aloysius Matovu Junior, who formerly worked with Baba TV as well as Radio Sapientia, has fled the country citing political persecution.
Matovu, also renowned for his work in human rights circles particularly in helping to rescue and trace Ugandan girls who were abused while in Arab countries, finds himself in the very vulnerable situations that he helped many Ugandans abroad get out of.
In a conversation with this newspaper from his hideout abroad which he didn’t want to disclose, Matovu, said he fled the country after receiving death threats for hosting critics of the government.
Matovu, a self-confessed member and supporter of the main opposition party – the National Unity Platform (NUP), says because of his independent political views, he received threats from some sources that culminated into his sacking from Baba TV.
“My whole life, I have been a political person. Before joining NUP, I was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party (DP), I have never supported the ruling government and I will never do so,” Matovu said recently.
“In 2009, I was fired from my job as a presenter at Radio Sapientia, saying that I incited violence in masses during the Buganda riots. Radio Sapientia was switched off air and one of the conditions for its opening, the government ordered the station management to sack me. And that’s what they did. Since then I have been persecuted by my political rivals.”
Despite the threats and even jail terms, Matovu has vowed to remain a fighter for the less privileged and down trodden.
“I have been in prison numerous times because of my political beliefs. Everywhere I work, the political persecution has always followed me. I work under fear since I feel my life is not secure here. Of late, I have also received death threats because of my support for NUP and Bobi Wine,” he further noted.
After being threatened, Matovu says he reported a case to Police, but was tossed, as the officers insisted they would not want to clash with senior army officers.
“The officers at Old Kampala Police Station told me to go to Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters in Kibuli. They said my case was beyond their powers. They therefore refused to work on my case. That’s when I realised that my life was also not safe in the hands of Police,” says Matovu.
Following his predicament, Matovu recently fled Uganda in fear for his life. This is according to one of his relatives who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity.
Matovu’s story is however not unique especially among supporters of NUP who continue to report cases of harassment, kidnap by members of the security forces.
In recent weeks, the leadership of NUP says about many of their supporters have been abducted or disappeared using the infamous drone vehicles . They point an accusing finger on government security forces.
Numerous well known journalists including Raymond Mujuni and Gabriel Buule have told sad tales (through their professional WhatsApp) platforms of how they receive threats from government minders on a very regular basis.
The attacks on journalists are not unique to the profession but reflect the state of human rights across the country.
One horror account of abuse orchestrated by Uganda’s security operatives on unsuspecting civilians, was recently recorded by the Daily Monitor of September 27, 2022. One of the victims of the torture incidents revealed how he was frequently forced to urinate on live electric wires as one of the torture tactics. In order to stop the pain that would arise from the electric shock, the victim chose to start drinking his own urine.
