My past doesn’t define me – Matthew Kanyamunyu responds to public scrutiny
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Matthew Kanyamunyu has returned to social media to speak openly about his experience after the highly publicised murder of social worker and child rights activist Kenneth Akena.
Kanyamunyu shared memories of his imprisonment and how he spent five New Year’s Days in prison (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024).
His remarks, however, sparked criticism from some followers who said he had no moral ground to speak publicly given his past.
In response, Kanyamunyu issued a statement acknowledging his actions and reflecting on forgiveness and reconciliation.
Kanyamuntu, a nephew to UNAIDS boss Winnie Byanyima said he took responsibility under the law and custom, sought reconciliation and accepted his punishment.
He also rejected the view that a person must remain silent or be forever erased after accountability has been met.
It is true that in the past I caused grave harm without intention. I took responsibility under the law, and under custom. I sought reconciliation, made restitution and served my sentence
I do not deny what happened nor do I claim absolution from its consequences. I lay it all at the foot of Christ who alone 'convicts us rightly of our sin, covers up our guilt and shame, comforts us in our sorrow, reveals to us the path of life and leads us on the way everlasting'
What I and what you - should reject if such a calamity ever befell you (God forbid), is that a person must remain permanently silent or irretrievably and irrevocably erased once accountability has been met. And yet that's exactly what a polarised society will not sit with.
Kanyamunyu argued that forgiving him challenges society to confront its own fragility and capacity for error.
He thanked the Acholi people and traditional leaders of Ker Kal Kwaro Acholi for guiding the reconciliation process, and he expressed profound respect for Akena’s family for their courage and compassion.
Kanyamunyu described their forgiveness as a moral lesson that could inspire national healing in a deeply polarised society.
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The Murder Case and Sentence
Kanyamunyu was arrested in 2016 after a confrontation with Akena on Kampala’s Lugogo Road, in which Akena was shot and later died in hospital.
Prosecutors initially charged him with murder, accusing him of shooting Akena after a minor motor accident turned violent.
His girlfriend, Cynthia Munwangari, and his brother, Joseph Kanyamunyu, were also charged but their roles were reduced or dropped as the case unfolded.
In November 2020, Kanyamunyu pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, admitting he unlawfully caused Akena’s death without premeditation.
Court sentenced him to five years and one month in prison, but he served three years and five months before being released in April 2024.
During the process, he engaged in the Acholi traditional reconciliation ritual, known as Mato Oput, and reached an understanding with Akena’s family.
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