No, Uganda's former opposition leader Mathias Mpuuga is not dead, ignore video claiming otherwise
A viral video on TikTok claims that Mathias Mpuuga, Uganda's former opposition leader, has died in a car accident. But it uses old photos of various car accidents to make this false claim.
A 32-second video posted on TikTok shows alternating pictures of a road accident involving a black Toyota Land Cruiser and photos of Mathias Mpuuga.
It features sombre music and the caption: "Breaking news on Masaka road. Mpuga RIP."
The footage shows five different pictures of the black vehicle in different settings. The first image shows it in a grassy ditch, with the number plate visible. The second image shows a damaged black Land Cruiser being towed away.
The third image shows it on a tarmac road with no front number plate and damage to the bumper and left front side. The fourth image shows it parked on a dirt track with minor damage.
The final image shows a heavily damaged black SUV in a grassy field surrounded by several uniformed men inspecting it.
Mpuuga is a Ugandan politician. He is a member of parliament for Nyendo-Mukungwe municipality and a parliamentary commissioner. He was the leader of the opposition from June 2021 to January 2024.
The video has received over 475,000 views, 10,000 likes, 1,200 shares and 690 comments.
Viral hoaxes claiming popular personalities are dead or injured are common, and Africa Check often flags many such claims.
But is this claim that Mpuuga died in a road accident true? We checked.
Pictures show different cars in different accidents
While the images may appear to be from the same accident, closer inspection and reverse image searches of the vehicles in the video reveal that they are from unrelated accidents.
The first image is actually of an accident in 2020 involving Uganda's then-leader of the opposition, Betty Aol Ochan. The second image is of an accident in Ghana in August 2021 involving the Ghanaian minister of employment and labour relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah.
The third image is from a 2021 accident involving Entebbe municipality MP Michael Kakembo. The fourth image shows a minor accident in Uganda in 2022 involving Uganda's chief justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo and his deputy, Richard Buteera. The last image involved the Ugandan minister of defence, Naome Kibaaju Ntebekeine, in February 2018.
None of the vehicles shown in the video are connected to Mpuuga, and they are all from various old accidents.
More importantly, Mpuuga is alive and well. He was seen and reportedly attended a meeting with the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leadership on 21 January 2025, the day after the video was posted online.
The FDC is a Ugandan opposition party.
Furthermore, his social media posts show photos of him actively engaged in various activities as recently as 24 January, four days after the video claiming his death was posted.
The claim that the video shows an accident that killed Mpuuga is false. The video is misleading and uses unrelated old footage to spread disinformation. Mpuuga continues to perform his duties and is in good health.