The Office of the National Chairman of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) will on Tuesday hold a special prayer and commemoration ceremony to honour fallen liberation fighters and celebrate President Yoweri Museveni’s 82nd birthday, the manager of the Office of the National Chairman, SPA/PA Hajjat Hadijjah Namyalo, has said.
Hajjat Namyalo made the announcement during a media briefing on Monday, September 14, 2026, saying the ceremony at the Office of the National Chairman headquarters in Kyambogo will bring together religious leaders from different denominations, surviving fighters and families of those who died during Uganda’s liberation struggle.
The event, scheduled to begin at 9:00am on Tuesday, will coincide with Museveni’s birthday on September 15. Namyalo said the occasion was deliberately linked to the President’s birthday to remind Ugandans that celebrating the achievements of the present should also involve remembering the people and sacrifices that shaped the country’s history.
She described September as a significant month in the spiritual calendar of those involved in the event, referring to it in Luganda as “omwezi omulamuzi,” which she associated with judgment and divine intervention. According to Namyalo, the month carries particular significance because it was during this period that President Museveni was born.
“We are in preparation for the revival of our fallen warriors. We need to revive these spirits, pray for them and commit them to God,” Namyalo said, stressing that the prayers would also extend to Ugandans currently facing difficult circumstances.
She said the ceremony would seek to remember both the departed and living participants in Uganda’s liberation struggle, with religious leaders expected to lead prayers for the fallen fighters and for the country.
Namyalo said the remembrance would focus particularly on the resilience of the fighters who operated from Katonga during the struggle, arguing that their determination contributed to the eventual capture of Kampala and the establishment of the political order that has governed Uganda since 1986.
“Those people had God’s mercy, so we need to revive them and their spirits,” she said, adding that the prayers would seek to address any spiritual burdens or curses that participants believe may have followed the fighters and their families.
The ceremony is also expected to provide an opportunity for children of the former fighters to participate in remembering their parents’ contribution to the country. Namyalo said their presence would help connect the history of the liberation struggle with a younger generation that did not directly experience it.
The commemoration comes as the NRM continues to emphasise the role of the liberation struggle in shaping Uganda’s political history. The party has consistently presented the sacrifices of its early fighters as central to the peace and stability it says the country has enjoyed since the end of the 1981 to 1986 guerrilla war.
In a message ahead of the ceremony, the Office of the National Chairman called on families and friends of both living and departed revolutionary warriors to attend the event, describing it as an opportunity to celebrate, appreciate, remember and honour their sacrifices, contributions and legacies to Uganda’s liberation and nation-building.
For Namyalo, however, Tuesday’s gathering is intended to go beyond a birthday celebration. She said remembering the fighters is a way of returning to the origins of the political movement and reflecting on the sacrifices that preceded its rise to power.
As religious leaders, former fighters and their families gather at Kyambogo, the organisers hope the prayers will provide a moment of remembrance for those who died, recognition for those who survived and reflection on the country’s journey from armed struggle to the present political era.