Job Richard Matua is the man who petitioned the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development about Richard Byarugaba’s continued employment despite clocking 60 years. But who is Job Richard Matua?
He identifies as an NRM Cadre and to show how serious he is, he wants to stand for National Vice Chairperson Central Executive Committee NRM Northern-Uganda a position that fell vacant after the death of former speaker Jacob Oulanyah.
Matua is a former teacher of Biology. He has taught the subject for 14 years and his speciality was on the Biology practical paper. This is where he discovered that rearing rats for practicals can be a business since one of the specimens UNEB always sets for Advanced level students is a rat.
Matua says each rat sells between 10,000/= to 20,000/= off season but during UNEB exams, one rat goes for 30,000/= to 50,000/=.
He says that his friends Robert Musinguzi in Blessed Sacrament Kimanya and Aisha from St Peter's SS Nsambya inspired him to start the business. He is currently breeding over 3,000 in Matugga. He says that his friends are part of the business. He also has some rats in Masaka and some in Kakiri and he hopes to be breeding about 1 million rats by November this year.
Matua is now popular for the NSSF petition and has appeared not just in media but also in the select committee of Parliament led by Mwine Mpaka. He says he got interested in the NSSF saga when Prime Minister wrote to Minister for Gender Labour and Social Development re appointing Richard Byarugaba as MD NSSF.
He petitioned the Prime minister protesting the re-appointment and further attached what he referred to as evidence that would cause a thorough investigation into misuse of office by Byarugaba.