The Buganda kingdom has officially launched the 2026 sports calendar. This was during the launch, the kingdom’s minister in charge of youths, sports and arts, Robert Serwanga revealed that 2026 will be a busier year compared to last year due to the addition of new sports disciplines.
“2026 provides us a new page of collaboration and dedication to strengthen youth empowerment and sports development, with a more futuristic and strategic focus. It is the reason we hope to continue offering various age groups and sports disciplines an opportunity to be part of our calendar,” said Serwanga.
Motorsport returns to the kingdom calendar while badminton makes its second-year appearance.
“We shall open the year with the sports gala to celebrate those who won accolades the previous year. The subcounty games will feature football, netball and mweso. This year, we shall also enjoy motorsport returning to our calendar in July and cycling. We shall have our prominent Masaza, Bika and Coronation championships as well the Kabaka birthday run.
The Buganda Sports Awards Gala/luncheon (Friday 6th February)
The event is organised to celebrate outstanding persons in the sports Calendar of the ending year. 20 awards and various recognitions in different categories are given out to outstanding sports personnel and stakeholders including partners and sponsors across the activities organised by the Kingdom in the previous year.
Gombolola Cup (14th February – 29th March)
Featuring football, netball and mweso, the competition is played at Ssaza (County) level as one of the build-up activities to Kabaka’s birthday celebrations focusing on the out of school community, the competition is broken down into 18 mini tournaments organized by and named after the official title of each Ssaza Chief, e.g Luweekula Cup in Buweekula.
Motor Sports Birthday Motor Sprint (6th – 8th March Coronation Motor Sprint 3rd – 5th July)
Motor Sport makes it return to the Kingdom calendar activities after a long time with two sprints scheduled in celebration of the Kabaka’s birthday and Coronation.
Buganda Cycling Tours
Sunday 19th April – Luweero, Bulemeezi Sunday 26th July – Masaka Buddu Saturday 14th November – Lubiri Mengo, Kyadondo
Conducted on a system of tours, where riders from various counties and groups compete to collect points over the different races, the event aims at using cycling as a tool for social change, promotion of environment friendly activities, unity and sports tourism
Buganda Schools Gala (Wednesday 11th – Sunday 15th March Kawanda SS, Kyadondo)
Played as a 3 to 5-day gala for both primary and secondary schools, the multi-sport tournament brings together players and offers a platform for pre-season preparation and testing ahead of the national schools’ Calendar
Kabaka’s Birthday Run (Sunday 12th April)
Organised annually as a fan run, this is arguably the largest of such events in Africa organised in response to Kabaka’s call of Fighting HIV/AIDS in celebration of his Birthday. While the main event started at the Lubiri palace, mini events are organized across the whole Kingdom and in the Diaspora.
Bika Games
Official Launch – Friday 23rd April Grand Opening Ceremony – Saturday 2nd May Grand Closing and awards Ceremony – Saturday 6th June
The Bika Sports programs is aimed at encouraging pride in the foundational structuring of the people of Uganda and Buganda, identified by their basic cultural grouping of a Clan, under the tribe of a Muganda
Masaza Football Cup
Official Launch – Wednesday 10th June Grand Opening Ceremony – Saturday 13th June Grand Closing and awards Ceremony – Saturday 31st October
Masaza Cup is Buganda’s premium footballing event that brings together 18 teams representing all the Masaza (Counties) of the Kingdom, played since 2004 on a 12-month event cycle. The Masaza Cup is the epitome of pride, loyalty and football talent development in Uganda.
CORONATION TOURNAMENTS
Golf
25th July
Organised as a one-week event involving caddies, kids, gross, professionals and amateur categories for individuals and teams, Golf provides an opportunity for all persons in the corporate and golfing circles to celebrate the coronation of the Kabaka.
MWESO
11th – 12th July 25th July 18th – 19th July
One of Buganda’s traditional sports is organised in each Ssaza at Ggombolola in consideration of the cultural importance of Mweso as one of the activities performed in the coronation procedures of a Kabaka.
BADMINTON OPEN
Friday 17th – Sunday 19th July, NCS Indoor Arena
Organized as an open championship where any person, club or institution can participate in age-grade competitions from juniors (U10) to seniors (50+), badminton offers a great opportunity to a wide spectrum of participants to celebrate Kabaka’s coronation in a 3-day event.
Buganda Royal Regatta (Maato)
Saturday 23rd August
Maato (Boat racing) is one of Buganda’s traditional sports organised as a championship where participants compete using local canoes in celebration of the rich history of the kingdom and preservation of the heritage of water sports.
Coronation Rugby 7s
1st – 2nd August
A 2-day kingdom recognised championship for rugby 7s that is tagged to the coronation and held as the 1st event in the national rugby 7s series.
Youth Associations and Traditional Games Gala
Saturday 14th November
In the run-up to the youth day, various youth groups engage in competitive sporting activities to promote unity amongst themselves.
Kingdom Inter-Agency Games
Friday 20th November
Organised under the theme; “Omannyi?” (Do you know me?), the interagency games is an annual event that brings together staff members from across all Kingdom entities to celebrate service and promote unity through mainstream and fun games.
