The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | URN | President Yoweri Museveni has revealed that First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni, recently survived a serious illness and is now recovering well.
In a lengthy birthday message posted on his X account on Wednesday to mark Janet Museveni’s 78th birthday, the President disclosed that she suffered a major health challenge on March 21, 2026, but credited God and medical professionals for saving her life.
“Three months ago, on the 21st of March, 2026, Sitaane launched an attack on the life of Maama. However, Sitaane miscalculated. The 21st of March is a good day for the Resistance,” Museveni wrote. “God, using good doctors, saved Maama’s life, and she is now recovering well.”
The President did not disclose the nature of the illness, but his remarks are the first public confirmation that the First Lady had been battling a serious medical condition. There has been widespread speculation about her health after she missed several public engagements, including the President’s Swearing-in Ceremony and the ministerial vetting by the Appointments Committee.
Born on June 24, 1948, Janet Museveni has served as Uganda’s First Lady since 1986 and has held several government positions, including Member of Parliament for Ruhaama County and Minister of Karamoja Affairs, before her appointment as Minister of Education and Sports in 2016.
In his tribute, Museveni described his wife as a pillar of their family, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and numerous charitable causes. He praised her role during some of the most difficult years of Uganda’s liberation struggle, recalling that she raised their children while he was engaged in the bush war.
“Maama has done great things in the family, especially caring for the children during the second phase of the Resistance between 1981 and 1986 when she was alone in exile and I was in the bush,” he wrote.
The President also highlighted Janet Museveni’s contribution through the Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO), the charitable organisation she founded in 1986 to support vulnerable children affected by years of conflict and instability.
Beyond family and philanthropy, Museveni credited the First Lady with playing an active role in NRM politics in Ntungamo District and championing religious and community development initiatives.
The President used the occasion to recount how they unexpectedly reconnected on Christmas Day in 1972 outside Nairobi’s Inter-Continental Hotel after years without contact.
The two had first met while studying at Kyamate in Ntungamo District before Uganda’s political turmoil separated them. At the time of their reunion, Museveni was operating from Tanzania as part of efforts to overthrow the government of former President Idi Amin following the 1971 military coup.
Museveni credited that reunion for the family they later built together, which now includes four children and fifteen grandchildren. “It is that accidental and miraculous re-connection that enabled me to have a family even when I was still in the risky life of exile and the Resistance,” he wrote.
His birthday message also revisited key moments in Uganda’s liberation history, including the failed September 1972 anti-Amin invasion and the March 21, 1979 Battle of Rugaando near Mbarara during the Uganda-Tanzania War.
The President linked his wife’s recovery to what he described as the historical significance of March 21, noting that it was on that date in 1979 that forces opposed to Amin defeated a counterattack near Mbarara.
Museveni said he hopes both he and Janet live to celebrate their 100th birthdays and witness the realisation of the East African Federation, which he described as essential to safeguarding Africa’s future.
