Uganda Pulls Out of Prince Harry’s Invictus Games Just Two Months After Joining

Uganda has abruptly withdrawn from the Invictus Games, just two months after becoming the first East African nation to join Prince Harry’s international sporting community for wounded, injured and sick military personnel.

The announcement came from General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces and the son of President Yoweri Museveni. He said the country did not want its involvement in the Games to be interpreted as opposition to King Charles III.

“In order not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere, Uganda hereby withdraws from the Invictus Games,” Kainerugaba wrote on X.

He added: “We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.”

A Ugandan government spokesman subsequently confirmed that Kainerugaba has the authority to decide whether the Uganda People’s Defence Force participates in the Invictus Games.

Military chief takes aim at ‘Harry-Meghan nonsense’

Kainerugaba went further when explaining the thinking behind his decision.

He said there were people within Uganda’s Ministry of Defence who supported what he described as the “Harry-Meghan nonsense,” adding that he had moved to shut that down and making his allegiance clear: “I support the monarch. Period.”

The comments have inevitably drawn the Invictus Games into the wider debate surrounding Harry and Meghan’s position in relation to the Royal Family.

The announcement also came shortly after Buckingham Palace issued fresh guidance reiterating that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not working members of the Royal Family and that their activities are undertaken independently rather than on behalf of the monarchy.

However, the timing does not by itself establish that the Palace directed or requested Uganda’s withdrawal. Kainerugaba presented the move as his own decision based on his support for the King.

Uganda had joined only two months earlier

The sudden reversal is particularly striking because Uganda’s relationship with Invictus appeared to be moving in the opposite direction only weeks ago.

On July 7, 2026, Uganda officially became the 26th nation to join the Invictus community and the first from East Africa.

Uganda’s Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, attended an Invictus event at Chatham House in London, where the country’s membership was formally announced alongside Prince Harry.

At the time, Uganda described joining the movement as an important step in improving rehabilitation opportunities for wounded and injured members of its armed forces.

The partnership had been developing for months. In October 2025, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and the Invictus Games Foundation signed an agreement aimed at strengthening rehabilitation programs for wounded personnel. The Foundation subsequently visited rehabilitation facilities in Uganda and provided adaptive sports equipment.

As recently as August, Kainerugaba himself met Invictus Games Foundation chief executive Rob Owen during a visit to Britain.

Uganda’s military said following that meeting that Kainerugaba had reaffirmed the country’s commitment to using adaptive sport to support wounded, injured and sick service members. He also expressed appreciation for Harry’s role in creating the Invictus movement.

That makes the decision to withdraw only weeks later an especially dramatic change of course.

A setback ahead of Birmingham 2027

Harry established the Invictus Games in 2014 after being inspired by the Warrior Games in the United States.

The competition uses sport to support the recovery and rehabilitation of serving military personnel and veterans who have been wounded, injured or become ill.

Uganda had been preparing to make its competitive debut at the next Games, which will take place in Birmingham in 2027.

The Invictus Games Foundation has indicated that it was surprised by the withdrawal announcement and is seeking clarification from its partners in Uganda.

The development therefore leaves questions over what happens to the rehabilitation partnership already established between Invictus and the Ugandan military, as well as the athletes and personnel who had been expected to benefit from Uganda’s new membership.

Harry and Charles remain under scrutiny

Uganda’s decision arrives at a sensitive moment for Harry following his return to Britain.

Recent attention has focused heavily on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s status and the distinction between their private charitable and commercial activities and official duties carried out on behalf of the monarchy.

That distinction now appears to have played directly into Kainerugaba’s public explanation for Uganda’s decision.

The episode is also unusual because Invictus is not simply another Sussex commercial project. It has been one of Harry’s longest-running charitable commitments, created while he was still a working royal and built around his own experience in the armed forces.

King Charles has also previously supported initiatives aimed at wounded military personnel, making Kainerugaba’s insistence that Uganda could not participate without the monarch’s approval a particularly notable element of the dispute.

For Harry, the withdrawal represents an unexpected setback only months before preparations for Birmingham 2027 move into their next phase.

For Uganda, it marks a remarkable reversal: in July, the country was celebrating its arrival as Invictus’ first East African member; in August, its military chief was publicly praising the movement’s work; and by September, the same general was announcing that Uganda was walking away.