President Museveni has paid a moving tribute to First Lady Janet Museveni on her 78th birthday, revealing a recent health scare where “Sitaane” (Satan) allegedly launched an attack on her life.
In a statement released by the Presidential Press Unit (PPU) on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, the President expressed gratitude to God for preserving his wife through a lifetime of challenges, including childhood orphanhood and political exile. Museveni disclosed that three months ago, on March 21, 2026, an unexpected health crisis threatened the First Lady’s life.
However, the President noted that the enemy miscalculated, as that specific date historically marks a day of victory when frontliners defeated Idi Amin’s counter-attack at Rugaando in 1979.
“God, using good doctors, saved Maama’s life and she is now recovering well,” President Museveni stated.
Reflecting on their decades-long companionship, Mr Museveni, 81, recounted their “miraculous re-connection” on Christmas Day in 1972 outside the Inter-Continental Hotel in Nairobi. Although both hailed from Ntungamo and attended Kyamate Primary School together in 1958, Uganda’s turbulent political history had separated them. At the time of their Nairobi reunion, Mr Museveni was actively operating from Tanzania to overthrow dictator Idi Amin.
According to the President, running into Janet and her relatives in the hotel parking lot fundamentally altered his personal life.
“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,” Museveni wrote. The union has since blessed the first family with four children and 15 grandchildren.
Museveni lauded the First Lady, fondly referred to as “Maama,” for her resilience in raising their young family alone in exile during the intense second phase of the liberation struggle between 1981 and 1986 while he was fighting in the bush.
Beyond her role in the family, the President highly commended Janet’s extensive public service, highlighting her philanthropic leadership with the Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO), her religious devotion, and her political contributions to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Ntungamo.
Looking toward the future, the President expressed a deep desire for longevity so that they may witness a historic milestone for the continent.
“I pray to God to get us to 100 years respectively so that we, among the other good things, see the birth of the East African Federation which is the Insurance of Africa against any future domination or marginalization,” Museveni concluded.