Museveni celebrates wife’s 78th birthday, reflects on family, faith, Uganda’s liberation struggle and when Satan attacked the First Lady

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has paid a heartfelt tribute to First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni as she marked her 78th birthday, reflecting on their decades-long journey together, Uganda’s liberation struggle, and what he described as God’s providence in bringing them together.

In a message released on Tuesday, Museveni said he and the family were grateful to God for preserving Janet Museveni throughout her life, including the challenges she faced after losing her father, Mzee Edward Kataaha, in 1955.

The President recounted how he and the First Lady were reconnected on Christmas Day in 1972 outside the Inter-Continental Hotel in Nairobi after years of separation caused by Uganda’s political turmoil.

Although both hailed from Ntungamo and had studied at Kyamate School in the late 1950s, Museveni said they lost touch amid the upheavals that characterized the country’s history.

At the time, Museveni was living in exile and involved in efforts to overthrow the regime of Idi Amin.

He recalled that the chance encounter occurred shortly after he had been involved in organizing resistance activities against Amin’s government following the failed September 1972 incursion into Uganda.

According to Museveni, the unexpected meeting with Janet Museveni and members of the Kazzora family proved transformative in his personal life.

“Without going into details, 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 said.

The President credited the reunion with the formation of a family that has since grown to include four children and fifteen grandchildren.

Museveni also revealed that the First Lady suffered a serious health scare on March 21, 2026, which he described as an attack on her life. However, he said she survived and is recovering well thanks to God’s intervention and the efforts of medical professionals.

“God, using good doctors, saved Maama’s life and she is now recovering well,” he said.

The President praised Janet Museveni for her role in raising their children during the difficult years of the National Resistance Army bush war between 1981 and 1986, when she was living in exile while he was engaged in the armed struggle.

He also commended her contributions to philanthropy through the Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans, her involvement in National Resistance Movement politics in Ntungamo, and her religious work.

Describing her as a pillar of the family and nation, Museveni said her contributions had extended beyond the home into social and community development.

As she celebrated her 78th birthday, the President expressed hope that both of them would live to celebrate their centenary and witness the realization of one of his long-held political aspirations—the establishment of the East African Federation.

“I pray to God to get us to 100 years respectively so that we, among other good things, see the birth of the East African Federation,” he said.

Janet Museveni, who currently serves as Uganda’s Minister of Education and Sports, remains one of the country’s most influential public figures, having played significant roles in education, social development and national leadership over several decades.

Her birthday celebration attracted warm wishes from family members, political leaders, supporters and well-wishers across the country.