Ugandan blogger and radio personality Dennis Matanda's provocative opinions on African culture, Idi Amin and recolonization have been covered on Global Voices before. Dennis caused another stir last month when he posted on his blog under the title “How to Be Dead.” The post chronicled the radio show, ensuing threats and frightening act of vandalism leading up to his flight from Uganda, a decision met with a mixture of support, bemusement and skepticism by his fellow blogren. Writing about her latest dating escapades, Tumwujike tells readers, “If you want to read a post about ‘real’ drama, Dennis Matanda’s blog is the place to go.” Tandra addresses Dennis in her post about September's Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour, saying, “pity we cldnt hang before some ignorant peeps just run mad and u had to play dead.” But Degstar had the strongest reaction: We had this discussion eons ago — in your old car, the one that had a toy Beretta in the glove compartment? — where I pointed out that for your being less than reserved about your feelings on things of national import, you could, should, expect to pay a price. And you, in that — some would say arrogant — devil-may-care way of yours said, “f— that. I mean really!!” me, I just said “kale.” Indeed you went on to say exactly what you wanted when and where you wanted. Then as it turns out — if I’m getting this right — your views on other people’s sexual preferences were what finally broke the camel’s back and resulted in the late night visit to your house. Chief, what did you expect? A formal protest note delivered to your lawyer? A picket of your Nakasero hill office? A boycott of your radio talk show? Public burning of your newspaper articles? Or perhaps an invite to the Media Centre to share your divergent views in a bid to “reach a consensus and chart a common way forward?” dude please, I think not. Now living in the United States, Dennis is working on his first fiction piece: a novel titled Master of the Sagging Cheeks, which he hopes will bring a change in the way the world views African leaders. He agreed to share his story with Global Voices: Q: Can you describe the events leading up to your decision to leave Uganda? A: There are basically three things that led me to leave Uganda. The first is that I was getting nasty phone calls from unidentified people threatening me about a radio talkshow I did each week. The calls became nastier when we discussed homosexuality on the 24th of August. I basically did not agree with the pastors and colleagues about homosexuality. I said homosexuality was not welcomed with open arms in the West and so we did not have a right to assume that it was imported into Uganda. Because I had just returned to Uganda from a holiday in the UK and the US, I got a phone call that night telling me to go back where I came from if I wanted to see the light of day. The second is that I was not too sure who these people were and could not pinpoint if they were government agents or not. I brought up the topic of harassment with my colleagues — not necessarily divulging the fact that these calls were coming in — but seeking information on who would be behind these things. The basic information I got was that because there are so many security operatives and many arms competing for the President's ear and so many power centers, it was almost impossible to know who was behind the calls. And lastly, I did not know if I could trust the police with my life considering that they are obviously against anyone who says anything against the government — which I did all the time. Q: You have a reputation as provocateur — your articles on African leaders and colonialism in particular have garnered much heated discussion. What would you cite as the single most controversial point of view you've publicly taken? A: I think that the Call for Recolonization has been the most unpopular. I remember getting a call from an influential person in the government asking me to put them down considering that they touched on some really sensitive issues on leadership and President Museveni. He said that although I was right and making a lot of sense, in his opinion, “the people who run the country were past sense and were now into destruction of anything that stood in their way.” Interestingly, after I run away from town, I called him and in our discussion, he said something to the extent that those articles could have been the main reason I was targeted, as they were discussed across the African continent and beyond. Q: Do you believe the attack on your compound is related more to your blog or to views expressed on your radio show? A: To be honest, I cannot put a finger to it. I still do not know who was after me — and this was the scariest part.