Eronda
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- Dec 16, 2025
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the Uganda Media Centre (UMC) and the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance have initiated Sauti Ya Uganda (Voice of Uganda). This nationwide anthem contest offers a grand prize of Shs 100 million and encourages citizens to learn, interpret, and perform all three stanzas of the Uganda National Anthem and the East African Community Anthem in any style and language they choose.
The initiative reveals a sobering truth about Uganda’s civic awareness: that many citizens can only sing the first verse of their national anthem, and most have no knowledge of the regional EAC anthem.
The competition will culminate on the grand national stage on October 9, 2026, during the Independence Day anniversary celebrations. To engage youth, the campaign also features a digital component: four weeks of weekly TikTok challenges, with the most creative song winning Shs 1 million each week.
Alan Kasujja, the Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, emphasized that the initiative goes far deeper than a standard television talent search.
“Sauti Ya Uganda isn’t asking you to memorize words,” Kasujja stated. “It is asking you to bring back to life—in your own voice, your own language, and choose unity over division and region over tribe. This is not just a talent search. It is an invitation to every Ugandan, in English or in your mother tongue, to reinterpret our national anthem and East African Anthem in your own voice, style, and creativity.”
Sauti Ya Uganda is partially funded by an AFCON 2027 organising partner through the regional “Pamoja” framework. Officials said the regional anthem is a strategic effort to boost East African identity, helping Ugandans to better understand and value regional unity before the continental games.
To guarantee full transparency and fairness, a panel of professional judges will travel to different regions for live knockout rounds. This mobile judging system reduces travel expenses for rural contestants, allowing those performing in indigenous languages or using unconventional traditional and folk arrangements to be judged fairly in their home areas.
Prominent academic and cultural leaders have rallied behind the campaign, framing it as a vital intervention for nation-building. Dr. Benon Kigozi of the African Music Council noted that a shared understanding of these anthems offers a systematic solution to national fragmentation.
“The competition on the Uganda National Anthem and the East African Anthem is very important in promoting patriotism and a general sense of nationalism and belonging,” Dr. Kigozi said. “With everyone acquainted with the anthem, the question of unification is solved because we all sing the same song for the same reason in the same nation.”
Source:The independent
The initiative reveals a sobering truth about Uganda’s civic awareness: that many citizens can only sing the first verse of their national anthem, and most have no knowledge of the regional EAC anthem.
The competition will culminate on the grand national stage on October 9, 2026, during the Independence Day anniversary celebrations. To engage youth, the campaign also features a digital component: four weeks of weekly TikTok challenges, with the most creative song winning Shs 1 million each week.
Alan Kasujja, the Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, emphasized that the initiative goes far deeper than a standard television talent search.
“Sauti Ya Uganda isn’t asking you to memorize words,” Kasujja stated. “It is asking you to bring back to life—in your own voice, your own language, and choose unity over division and region over tribe. This is not just a talent search. It is an invitation to every Ugandan, in English or in your mother tongue, to reinterpret our national anthem and East African Anthem in your own voice, style, and creativity.”
Sauti Ya Uganda is partially funded by an AFCON 2027 organising partner through the regional “Pamoja” framework. Officials said the regional anthem is a strategic effort to boost East African identity, helping Ugandans to better understand and value regional unity before the continental games.
To guarantee full transparency and fairness, a panel of professional judges will travel to different regions for live knockout rounds. This mobile judging system reduces travel expenses for rural contestants, allowing those performing in indigenous languages or using unconventional traditional and folk arrangements to be judged fairly in their home areas.
Prominent academic and cultural leaders have rallied behind the campaign, framing it as a vital intervention for nation-building. Dr. Benon Kigozi of the African Music Council noted that a shared understanding of these anthems offers a systematic solution to national fragmentation.
“The competition on the Uganda National Anthem and the East African Anthem is very important in promoting patriotism and a general sense of nationalism and belonging,” Dr. Kigozi said. “With everyone acquainted with the anthem, the question of unification is solved because we all sing the same song for the same reason in the same nation.”
Source:The independent
