Your Excellency, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,
As you prepare to take the oath once again on the 12th of May 2026, I extend to you my warm congratulations and sincere best wishes.
For me, this occasion is deeply personal and reflective.
I have had the privilege of knowing you from our younger days and of walking with you through different chapters of Uganda’s journey, from the early days of UPM, through the formative years of NRM, in Parliament, and later in the Constituent Assembly that gave Uganda the 1995 Constitution.
With time, history becomes memory, and memory teaches humility.
Over the years, I have watched you engage presidents and peasants, diplomats and ordinary wananchi with the same simplicity and ease. One of your most remarkable qualities has been your ability to remain approachable, patient, forgiving, and attentive to people despite the enormous weight of office and responsibility.
Many leaders become distant because of power.
You somehow remained connected to people. There are certain moments that remain deeply engraved in memory because they reveal the true character of a person beyond public office and politics.
I remember one particular evening when you returned from Cairo late at night. Many people would naturally have gone home to rest after such a long journey. Instead, you drove straight to Ntinda to visit an elderly lady in her nineties who was bedridden and nearing the end of her life. You sat with her in her home for several hours, speaking gently, listening patiently, comforting her and her family, before she eventually passed on not long thereafter. That moment stayed with me.
I remember another occasion when I accompanied you to Luwero to visit an elderly woman whose family you had known during the difficult years of the war. Her small home was visibly worn by time. I still remember looking up and seeing holes in the old, rusted iron sheets above us as rain clouds gathered in the distance. She offered us a weak wooden bench to sit on as you spoke with her at length, asking about her health, her children, her sisters, relatives, and even the resting place of her late husband. It was not a political visit. It was human.
You later promised to build her a better home and, true to your word, you fulfilled that promise.
I must confess that the entire scene moved me deeply and remains difficult to forget even today. Over the years, I have witnessed many similar moments that rarely reach newspapers or public platforms, moments that quietly reveal your compassion, humility, loyalty, memory, and genuine concern for ordinary people (obuntu).
You have kept old friendships, remembered old comrades, respected culture and tradition, and continued to listen even to those who disagree with you. I know very few leaders who can move comfortably from a village discussion to a high-level diplomatic meeting without changing who they are.
Politics often rewards noise.
History rewards endurance (okugumisiriza).
Uganda’s journey has not been perfect, because no nation’s journey ever is. Yet few can deny that under your leadership, Uganda has witnessed a remarkable transformation in peace, infrastructure, education, regional influence, private sector growth, national confidence and dignity.
Entire generations have grown up knowing only a stable Uganda, connected to the region and increasingly engaged with the world. That, whatever one’s political views may be, is part of your contribution to history.
On a personal note, allow me also to thank you for the confidence and trust you have extended over the years to Kampala Associated Advocates by entrusting our law firm with important constitutional and national matters, including presidential petitions. My colleagues and I have always considered this both an honour and a responsibility in the service of our country and its institutions.
I also wish to congratulate Maama Janet Museveni and your family for the strength, sacrifice, and support they have given you throughout this long journey of public service.
As Uganda enters another important phase with oil and gas, mining, energy, technology, and a rapidly growing young population, the responsibility ahead remains enormous. My prayer is that this next chapter will continue strengthening national unity, institutions, opportunity, and Uganda’s place in Africa and the world.
In my capacity as Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles to Uganda, allow me also to convey warm goodwill and continued friendship between the two countries, and best wishes for continued stability, cooperation, and progress within our region and the African continent.
Your Excellency, leadership is ultimately judged not only by the battles fought, but by the nation left standing after the battles are over.
May the Almighty God grant you wisdom, strength, good health, and peace as you continue serving our country.
Congratulations once again, Your Excellency.
Elly Karuhanga is a veteran legal titan and diplomat who has profoundly shaped Uganda’s economic trajectory through his leadership at the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), his authoritative influence in the oil and gas sector, and his strategic stewardship within the Chamber of Commerce.