By Kamugisha Leonard Akida
KAMPALA
Government has ordered for the cancellation of special Holy Mass to pray for incarcerated opposition leader and four times presidential candidate Rtd Col Dr Kizza Besigye.
The mass was scheduled to take place at Rubaga cathedral, the home of Kampala Archdiocese today Monday 23rd February, 2026.
The congregation and other invited guests had gathered at Rubaga Hill to pray for their beloved politician, the sick and all prisoners only to be told that the mass has been cancelled.
These started singing Mother Mary hymns and said prayers inside the cathedral.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the announcement, Eng Winnie Byanyima, the wife to Dr. Besigye disclosed that she was summoned by Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere and informed her that President Yoweri Museveni had asked the church not to proceed with prayers.
“I was called here by the Archbishop who told me that he had received a call from the President instructing him to cancel the Mass,” Byanyima said.
According to her, the Archbishop indicated that the President would first investigate the motive behind the mass and later communicate his position to the church.
“The Bishop pleaded to the President explaining that it’s a Catholic tradition to pray for prisoners, the sick and anyone that asks for prayers, but he refused. After a long time of pleading, the President asked for a postponement of prayers, arguing he was to first carryout investigations claiming it was political,” Byanyima added.
Byanyima told journalists that she called President Museveni to clarify that the planned gathering at Rubaga Cathedral was intended only as a prayer session for her husband and other political prisoners. She says the President promised to respond with his position on the matter by Wednesday this week.
The cancellation has caused mixed reactions from the public questioning the role of the State in the Catholic Church affairs.
By Press time, the congregation was still gathered inside and outside the cathedral.
The Archdiocese administration was yet to issue an official communication regarding the matter.
Winnie Byanyima married Col. Kizza Besigye on July 7, 1999, in a private ceremony at the Lourdel House chapel in Nsambya, Kampala, officiated by Archbishop Paul Bakyenga (now the late) and Bishop Barnabas Halem’Imaana. The wedding was attended by 50 guests.
