City native says he is clear of Ugandan charges
Former Woonsocket resident Paul Mathias had been accused of illegal weapons possession
WOONSOCKET – City native Paul R. Mathias was back at home this week after apparently clearing up what had been a harrowing set of allegations drawn against him earlier this year in Uganda, where he still has an estranged wife and child.
Mathias was arrested at his retirement home in Bwebajja Mawani, a section of Entebbe near Lake Victoria, back in February on domestic charges and having military-style weapons, knives, ammunition and military equipment there after his wife, Lillian Keites, alleged a domestic incident that drew police to investigate. Entebbe is located about 23 miles southwest of Kampala, Uganda’s largest city.
The couple has a three-year-old daughter, according to Mathias, and his wife has two sons, age 9 and 11.
The allegations his wife lodged in part through a video on social media were “absurd falsehoods, none of which were true,” Mathias said while back in Woonsocket. He said the charges against him were finally all dismissed in August.
The allegations and resulting search of his home on Jan. 13 turned up a quantity of ammunition, what police described to be military-type knives, military gear including uniforms and pepper spray, according to media reports.
As a result of seizures, police suggested Mathias may have had links to terrorism and he was held for two weeks at the Nalufenya police station before having an arraignment hearing and being ordered held at another facility for an additional 33 days while his case progressed. Nalufenya, located in the Jinja district, is a facility known for the mistreatment of inmates while operating as a detention center and has been the focus of efforts in Uganda to end that use. Mathias declined to comment on his treatment while at Nalufenya.
In addition to denying his wife’s allegations of abuse, a charge he listed as result of their pending divorce and her desire to obtain his property, Mathias said the weapons charges were found to be unwarranted given that the military gear he had at his home was part of his own military outfits and supplies collected during his years in the Air Force and service as a military police officer and security company owner.
The charges against him were also given more weight by a move by then Ugandan Inspector General of the Police Kale Kayihura to add a previously-disposed of charge of possession of a gun without a permit. That charge had resulted from Mathias bringing a handgun to Uganda through Uganda through Entebbe International Airport in February 2017 to protect his home in Bwebajja where he said there had been intrusions. Media reports list that a later investigation showed that while he did not have a permit for the weapon at the time, he did report it on his declarations while entering the country.
Mathias said the domestic case against him ended up being dismissed by the court after Keites failed to appear at any of the eight court sessions held on the charge.
“Lillian had the opportunity to come to court and testify and never showed up,” Mathias said. Mathias said he believes there were reasons why she did not appear and has since filed a case seeking to recover personal property and damages to the home at Bwebajja that he alleges occurred while he was being detained.
Mathias alleges his estranged wife sold off expensive clay roof tiles from the home during his detention leaving it open to the rains and also took a shipping container of personal possessions he had sent to Uganda from the United States and sold them as well.
Mathias grew up at his family’s home at 177 Boyden St., a property he still owns in the city today, and he has other properties in the Attleboro area and a summer home on Hog Island in Narragansett Bay.
Divorce proceedings are continuing in Uganda and Mathias has been granted visitation with his daughter, the reason he was heading back to Entebbe at the end of the week.
There has been some change in the country’s police leadership since his case unfolded and Mathias said Kayihura has been removed from his office and is now facing a case of corruption allegations and other crimes.
Mathias is a 1978 graduate of Woonsocket High School and entered the Air Force after high school. He also worked in law enforcement and had close ties to the Woonsocket Police Department after returning home and starting security businesses in the area.