Peace Rugambwa defends ‘Museveni is a god’ comments amid church backlash

Rugambwa, the Senior Presidential Advisor on Agriculture and Local People, made the initial comments while addressing a church gathering recently.

She said to the churchgoers, “President Yoweri Museveni is the god of Uganda and Africa. Does anyone deny this? He does not see as others do.” The remarks quickly triggered criticism on social media and from some religious leaders.

Bishop Nathan Ibrahim of Daystar Cathedral in Mbarara called on church leaders to reject Rugambwa’s statement. He argued that Museveni was Uganda’s president and should not be accorded divine status.

“I am calling upon the men of God across the country to come out and condemn, fight and reject the lies of the enemy upon this woman’s utterances,” he said.

“The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Cardinal of the Catholic church, the presiding apostle of the born again faith and other men of God came out and rejected this. This is from hell, not from God. This woman is possessed. She is out of her mind. God cannot share his glory with any man. He is a supreme God”

Ibrahim also asked Museveni to publicly distance himself from the remarks.

Rugambwa however, returned to the controversy at another gathering on October 1, 2026, and accused Ibrahim of insulting her.

She cited Exodus 7:1, in which God tells Moses that he had made him “like God to Pharaoh”, with Aaron serving as his prophet.

Rugambwa said that passage informed her interpretation of Museveni’s leadership.

“The Lord therefore made the President the God of Uganda and Africa, and his brother Salim Saleh and his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba as prophets to fight corruption in Uganda,” she said.

Rugambwa has emerged as a prominent government and NRM mobiliser in western Uganda. In 2025, she mobilised support for Museveni ahead of the 2026 elections and urged media personalities and online content creators to promote the NRM government’s record.

She also chairs the Boona Bagigahare Nyekundire poverty alleviation initiative, which has operated across districts in southwestern Uganda. The programme has supported groups of traders and other community associations, although its registration exercise was suspended in January following a dispute with the Catholic Diocese of Kabale.

Rugambwa has also represented the President in development initiatives. In November 2025, she handed over an ambulance to Bwambara Health Centre III in Rukungiri and encouraged residents to organise themselves into groups to access government livelihood programmes