Museveni hopeful of making it to 100 as he thanks Ugandans for warm 82nd birthday wishes
By Steve Ireri, September 21, 2026Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has expressed hope that he will live to 100 as he thanked millions of Ugandans and other well-wishers who celebrated his 82nd birthday.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, September 20, 2026, Museveni thanked the people who sent him messages of goodwill after he marked his 82nd birthday on September 15.
The Ugandan leader said he was grateful to the millions of people who reached out to him, revealing that he and his wife, whom he referred to as Maama, hoped to live for many more years.
“I want to thank the 8 million well-wishers who sent me congratulations on my 82nd birthday on the 15th of September, 2026,” Museveni wrote.
“Those well wishes and God’s blessings will push me and Maama for another just 18 years to reach 100 years of age and for Maama to reach 96 years,” he said.
Having reflected on his own longevity, Museveni then turned his attention to what he described as three historical missions that Africans still need to accomplish, warning that failure to address them could expose the continent to future calamity.
“In those remaining years, I appeal to the Africans, if they want to avoid future calamity, to work on the 3 historical missions not yet attained,” he wrote.
Museveni identified the first mission as achieving prosperity for Africans through greater economic integration across the continent.
He called for the integration of the African common market, arguing that such a framework would create a larger economic space in which wealth creators could expand their activities.
“These are: prosperity for the Africans through integrating the African common market to help the wealth creators expand,” Museveni wrote.
The president identified strategic security as the second unfinished mission, linking it to the political integration of the continent.
He argued that African countries should pursue political integration where possible and cited the proposed East African Federation as an example of such an arrangement.
The third element of his appeal was the use of what he described as “undugu”, a Swahili term meaning brotherhood, among Africans.
Museveni said the idea of African brotherhood should bring together the continent’s major linguistic groupings as part of efforts to strengthen unity.
He listed four broad linguistic groupings comprising Africa’s population of about 1.5 billion people.
These were the Niger-Congo group, which he said includes the Bantu and Kwa; the Nilo-Saharan group, which he associated with Cushitic and Nilotic communities; the Afro-Asiatic group, which he said includes Arabic, Tigrinya and Amhara speakers; and the Khoisan.
Museveni presented the four groupings as part of his broader argument for Africans to recognise their shared identity and work towards greater continental integration.
“It is the fulfilment of these historical missions, that will guarantee our prosperity and strategic security,” he wrote.
