PICTURES: Prayers and fireworks as Ugandans welcome 2026

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Presented and edited by Joseph Kizza
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 1:00 AM 

Soroti ushers in 2026

In Soroti City, Christians have welcomed the new year with prayer sessions. At St Peter's Cathedral, visiting Bishop Julius Wanyoika of Thika diocese in neighbouring Kenya has called on believers to commit their plans to Jesus Christ, the Saviour, reports Godfrey Ojore.

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 12:42 AM 

Pastor Kayanja prays for peace

Senior Pastor of the Miracle Centre Cathderal, Robert Kayanja (joined by his family) has led cross-over prayers at the Rubaga-based church.

Pastor Kayanja has prayed for a peaceful election process in January this year and for all political candidates at all levels. He has also prayed for peace in Uganda, reports Eddie Ssejjoba.

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 12:25 AM 

'We have made it!'

📍 The joy of ushering in the new year at Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala.

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 12:02 AM 

Happy New Year!

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 12:00 AM 

WATCH: Moroto welcomes new year

Have a look at the cross-over mood in Moroto district in Karamoja sub-region, as captured by Olandason Wanyama.

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 11:15 PM 

Musical countdown to 2026

Meanwhile, it is a musical countdown to the new year as the Emanzi Band thrills patrons at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala. 

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 10:16 PM 

Praise and worship in Lubowa

As the year draws to a close, the mood at Doxa Grounds in Lubowa is one of repentance, renewal, and quiet expectation. Worshippers lift their hands and voices, many whispering personal prayers asking for forgiveness, cleansing, and a fresh start as they prepare to step into 2026 with renewed faith, reports Ibrahim Ruhweza.

Songs of joy ripple through the open grounds, carried by the voices of thousands gathered for the crossover prayers. Families arrive together parents holding the hands of their children, young girls and boys standing shoulder to shoulder united by a shared desire for new blessings and a clean soul in the year ahead.

At the centre of the moment is Pastor Wilson Bugembe, whose presence energises the crowd. His words and music draw loud cheers, tears, and spontaneous dancing, as worshippers respond with unrestrained joy. For many, this is not just another church service, but a spiritual turning point.

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 10:03 PM 

Fervent praying at Namirembe Cathedral

As Ugandans look to cross over to a brand-new year, the final day of the calendar year is typically one of prayers at various venues.

The chaplain of St Mark School, Namagoma, Rev. Moses Ssenyonyi, was one of those selected to preach today at the Gospel convention on the final night of the year at Namirembe Cathedral, reports Patrick Kibirango.

He has encouraged believers that if they want God to do mighty things in their lives in the year 2026, they must make certain changes in their lives. These include avoiding all forms of immorality, stopping idolatry, and ending corruption.

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 9:20 PM 

'Stop caning lawbreakers!'

Museveni also touches on Police's methods of handling suspected offenders and crowds.

"I reject the practice of caning lawbreakers. Some Police forces in the world do it using batons, however I reject it. It must stop!" he says.

"However, using teargas for rioters is both legal and non-lethal. It is much better than using live bullets. However, the Police should be more methodical if they are to use teargas or other non-lethal techniques, by for instance, requesting in time the bystanders to move away before using teargas and other anti-riot non-lethal methods against rioters. The Police should use loudspeakers to warn people and give people time to pull away.

"I have been busy campaigning and I have not been following the antics of the Opposition actors. I have, however, heard that the mobile audiences of Mr Kyagulanyi have been looting people in some cases.

"Uganda is secure. Go out and vote. Uganda and NRM are unstoppable. Happy 2026 and beyond. Thank you."
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 9:16 PM 

'Nobody will intimidate you'

Museveni goes on to warn the "criminal Opposition" against "intimidating Ugandans" and rallies Ugandans to "come out and vote".

"Nobody will intimidate you and endanger your security. Anybody who tries will have themselves to blame and will end up badly. The future of Uganda is bright. Our first oil will come out next year."
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 9:10 PM 

On 'Opposition schemes'

"On the issue of law and order, you have been seeing the indiscipline and anarchy conduct of some of the Opposition guided by the wrong politics in their heads and promoted by parasitic foreigners that back them," says the President.

"They make many mistakes. These include transporting audiences to create the image of big crowds at the venues. Those arrested following Mr [Robert] Kyagulanyi [the National Unity Platform presidential flagbearer] at Mile 4 in Mbarara confessed that they had a fleet of possibly 200 vehicles transporting those nomadic audiences.

"You then have the Kyagulanyi schemes of causing chaos in the country on behalf of the foreigners that fund and back them. Mr Kyagulanyi and his evil foreigners that back him fail to understand that Uganda is a land of spiritual and political martyrs.

"Many Ugandans, especially those that have been with the Opposition, get flabbergasted by those schemes and link up with us and peacefully dissolve those schemes."
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 9:04 PM 

'Politics is about destiny of the people'

Concluding his address, the President touches on political competition, and law and order.

"Politics is not about the livelihood of leaders to solve the problem of jobs for some people. It is about the destiny of the people. That destiny is guided by principles that arise from the analysis and determination of how the respective societies can be safe and prosperous.

"Political actors should stop the pseudo-politics of "me me" because it is not only barren but also very destructive for countries."
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 8:58 PM 

'Galaxy of elected leaders should report corruption'

Museveni says part of the health strategy, although partially implemented, has worked very well.

"This is the strategy of prevention through immunization, hygiene, good lifestyle, nutrition, safe water, etc. Although it is only immunization and safe water that have been worked on, it has improved the average life expectancy from 43 years to 68 years.

"However there is the problem of curative that is still outstanding. It is tied up with the problems of not bothering with important things and corruption."

The President says it is the "galaxy" of elected leaders, right from the local council chairpersons up to Members of Parliament, who should "report corruption and other misconduct in the areas".

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 8:53 PM 

Emphasis on skills

On free [universal] education, the President says the programme started well in 1997, benefitting millions of learners at primary (UPE) and secondary (USE) level.

He says the "local elite started extracting money from the poor families for commercialized education", which he says has led to children dropping out of schools.

"This betrayal will be defeated with adequate budgeting for teachers enough in numbers to remove the pretext by the local elite of saying that they are milking money from the poor in order to hire more teachers. 

"I am providing completely free education at my skilling hubs yet my effort is more costly than the UPE-USE option that ought to be day schools because they are near the populations unlike my hubs that can only be boarding because of distances.

"The whole education system will now emphasize the issue of skills (emyooga)."
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 8:45 PM 

The stats

Museveni then turns to manufacturing and services, referencing figures provided to him by the finance ministry.

"Have you heard that Uganda has got more than 50,000 factories employing over 800,000 people? The services sector has created six million jobs and the hotels now have 150,000 hotel beds. The commercial agriculture sector is now employing 3.8 million people. The ICT sector is employing 2.3 million people.

"Therefore, the issue of wealth and jobs has a solution for those willing to listen."
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 8:40 PM 

'Our efforts have not been in vain'

The President talks about commercial agriculture, one of the anchor sectors of Uganda's economy.

"When I fly over the cattle corridor and see the nice well-fenced bush-cleared farms of the dairy and beef cattle in the previous wilderness of that zone of our country," he says.

"I fly over the Masaka-Rakai-Ssembabule area with the coffee gardens in maybe 60% of the homes, I fly over Kalangala with the palm trees for oil, I fly over the Teso area with the citrus gardens, over Bundibugyo and Mukono areas with the cocoa and coffee gardens, over the Bushenyi-Isingiro areas with the banana gardens, over the Zombo and Bugisu areas with the Arabica coffee, etc, you realise that our efforts have not been in vain and anybody who downplays these achievements is an enemy of Uganda.

"This is even before you talk about the huge sugarcane plantations in Busoga and Bunyoro, the palm oil plantations in Maruzi, Lango, the sugarcane plantations in the Luwero-Nakaseke-Kayunga areas.

"Have you seen the magnificent tea estates in the Toro, Ankole and Kigezi areas? With tea, there is a temporary problem of low prices. However, the people in the tea sector have assured me that the price is only affected by the failure to use fertilizers and bad picking methods."
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 8:34 PM 

'Poverty, unemployment, bad roads will be solved'

While the President admits that "yes, we still have poor people, we still have unemployed graduates, we still have some bad roads because of under budgeting for them and corruption", he is keen to note that "all these will be solved", and offers a reason.

"It is because we have already moved 70% of the homesteads into the money economy, yet by 2013 only 32% of the homesteads were in the economy. A whole 68% were still working only for the stomach.

"Apart from peace, economic and social infrastructure, what is crucial for the masses are the personal issues of poverty, education for the children, health, and jobs. NRM [National Resistance Movement] has for a long time designed solutions for these mass issues. Nobody who is sincere can say that the NRM has ever overlooked or has never identified and provided for these issues."

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 8:12 PM 

'Exports earnings more than import bill'

"As I have told you before, our economy has now gone through five phases, and these are the minimum recovery phase, the expansion of the small recovered colonial and neo-colonial economy phase, the diversification of that economy by converting more products into cash products, value addition to some of the raw materials, and finally entering the knowledge economy of making computers and vehicles and so on," says Museveni.

"We have even entered a new phase when our export earnings for goods and services are exceeding our import bill of 11.03 billion US dollars. The export earnings are 13.4 billion US dollars. This means we have got more than two billion dollars surplus on the account. Our exports earnings are more than our import bill. 

"Yes, we still have poor people, we still have unemployed graduates, we still have some bad roads because of under budgeting for them and corruption. However, all these will be solved. Why? It is because we have already moved 70% of the homesteads into the money economy, yet by 2013 only 32% of the homesteads were in the economy. A whole 68% were still working only for the stomach. 
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 8:04 PM 

Museveni's end of year address

President Yoweri Museveni has just began delivering his end of year address. I will be bringing to you highlights from his address.

"Greetings and congratulations to all of you for safely finishing the year 2025. Mama Janet [First Lady] and myself wish everybody a prosperous 2026 and beyond," he starts off.

"Our economy is robust, the majority of the population are very happy as you have been seeing the massive and extremely happy rallies I have been addressing [during the ongoing presidential campaigns ahead of the 2026 general election]. The country is peaceful and our armed forces are at their strongest -- some of the obstacles created by some unpatriotic elements notwithstanding.

"By June 2026, the size of the economy will be 68.4 billion US dollars (by the foreign exchange method) and 194.2 billion US dollars (by the purchasing power parity method).

"The GDP per capita will be 1,399 US dollars, meaning that Uganda is now firmly in the lower middle income status and out of the least developed countries status. All this is compared to 3.92 billion US dollars by 1986. In other words, the economy has grown 13 times in size since 1986."
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 7:00 PM 

Are you ready for 2026?

As is tradition, thousands of subjects of Buganda king Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II filled Lubiri Palace as part of the annual activities to usher in the new year. The king was accompanied by the Nnaabagereka, Sylvia Nagginda Luswata.

With security ramped up, officials from Mengo led by Katikkiro (Buganda Prime Minister) Charles Peter Mayiga and legislators attended the event.

In his end of year message, the present Kabaka preached unity and resilience, before later officially ushering in the new year with the symbolic dummy key, drawing huge applause and cheers from his subjects.