At 81, President Yoweri Museveni is seeking yet another term after nearly four decades in power. By plunging the nation into digital darkness just days before the election, his government has not only curtailed access to information but sent a clear message: in the face of mounting opposition and a population eager for change, the state will prioritize control over transparency. The blackout exposes the lengths to which an aging leader is willing to go to preserve authority, raising urgent questions about the future of democracy in Uganda and the ability of citizens to exercise their most fundamental rights.
Ugandans lined up at polling stations across the country today, eager to cast their votes in a high-stakes general election. Long queues formed outside schools, community centers, and local halls, as citizens waited hours for a chance to participate in a democratic process that many fear is already under threat.
However, for the second time in five years, the government has reached for the most blunt instrument in the authoritarian toolkit. On January 13, 2026, just 48 hours before a high-stakes general election, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) ordered an indefinite nationwide shutdown of the internet and mobile data services. By 6:00 PM local time, a nation of over 45 million people was plunged into a digital silence that is as deliberate as it is dangerous.
The justification from the Museveni administration is a tired refrain of “national security” and the “prevention of misinformation.” Yet, to the international community and the citizens currently cut off from their livelihoods, this is not a security measure. It is a digital curtain drawn to hide the mechanics of a state determined to maintain its forty-year grip on power at any cost.
A Pattern of Repression
This blackout is not an isolated incident but the culmination of a systematic campaign to stifle dissent throughout 2025. In the months leading up to this week’s vote, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights documented a harrowing escalation of state-sponsored intimidation.
Journalists have been assaulted, independent media offices like The Observer have been ransacked, and the accreditation of reporters from major outlets has been revoked in transparent acts of retaliation.
The irony of the government’s claim to be fighting “fake news” is sharp. By disconnecting the public, the state has created the very information vacuum where rumors and fear flourish.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, characterized the move as a brazen attack on fundamental rights. “This indefinite internet shutdown is a brazen attack on the right to freedom of expression which includes access to information. It creates an information vacuum and a digital darkness that may provide cover for the perpetration of serious human rights violations.”
A Blunt Instrument Used at a Critical Moment
According to the Uganda Communications Commission, the shutdown was necessary to curb disinformation and prevent election-related unrest. The commission offered no evidence that nationwide internet access posed a credible threat, nor did it explain why existing laws against incitement and hate speech were insufficient. Instead, it chose the most extreme tool available, one that punished the entire population for hypothetical risks.
The shutdown covered nearly all public-facing digital infrastructure. Social media platforms, messaging services, independent news websites, mobile money platforms, and cloud-based business tools were rendered inaccessible. Only a narrow list of government and security services was exempted, reinforcing the perception that the blackout was designed to shield the state from scrutiny rather than protect citizens.
This was not Uganda’s first blackout. Similar measures were imposed during the 2016 and 2021 elections. Each time, the government promised restraint. Each time, it reached for the same blunt instrument. Repetition has stripped these actions of any credibility as emergency responses.
The Economic Damage Is Immediate and Severe
Past shutdowns have already placed Uganda among the countries suffering the highest economic losses from internet disruptions in Africa. Beyond the immediate political implications, the shutdown is an act of economic self-sabotage.
Uganda has more than 11.4 million internet users, according to the GSMA. For many, connectivity is not optional. It is how businesses operate, how wages are paid, how farmers access markets, and how families send money across regions.
In a region where mobile money is the lifeblood of the informal economy and the primary vehicle for banking, the UCC’s directive has paralyzed millions of transactions. Recent data suggests the cost of these disruptions is staggering.
While the 2021 shutdown cost the economy approximately $100 million, the 2026 blackout, which includes the suspension of satellite services like Starlink, is expected to be even more ruinous.
Small traders, car and bike hailing service providers, online sellers, and freelancers were effectively locked out of income for days. “This situation is beyond our control, and we sincerely appreciate your understanding and patience.Once internet connectivity is restored, SafeBoda will immediately resume full operations,” Safe Boda, a Kampala based bike hailing firm said in a statement.
The shutdown is already affecting economic activity beyond its borders, particularly at the Port of Mombasa in Kenya, a major gateway for goods destined for Uganda and other landlocked East African countries. The blackout has hindered communication between cargo handlers, drivers, and clients, disrupting the flow of trade through the port.
Industry representatives reported that key aspects of logistics depend on internet connectivity, including real‑time coordination, digital tracking, and electronic clearance systems. When public internet was suspended, platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and other messaging services became inaccessible, making it difficult for clearing agents and transporters to share documentation, track cargo, or update drivers on schedules and border procedures.
Fredrick Aloo, national chairman of the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa), told reporters that “logistics heavily relies on internet access and real‑time visibility” and that the shutdown has slowed coordination, delayed submission of documents, and could lead to traffic bottlenecks at border posts.
The government’s claim that essential services would remain operational did little to mitigate the reality that most Ugandans rely on private digital platforms to survive. This is not collateral damage. It is a predictable harm inflicted by design.
Silencing Observation
Elections depend on transparency. In modern Uganda, transparency depends on digital access. Independent journalists, civil society monitors, election observers, and ordinary citizens increasingly rely on smartphones and internet platforms to document voting, report irregularities, and share results in real time.
By cutting off those channels, the state created an information vacuum. Official results could be announced without meaningful real-time verification. Allegations of intimidation or ballot tampering became harder to substantiate. The shutdown ensured that any evidence of malpractice would surface slowly, if at all.
Human groups have condemned the blackout as a violation of freedom of expression and access to information, arguing that blanket shutdowns are inherently disproportionate and incompatible with international human rights law.
The UN Human Rights Office stressed that “open access to communication & information is key to free & genuine elections.” “All Ugandans must be able to take part in shaping their future & the future of their country,” it said.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has previously warned that election-related internet shutdowns undermine democratic participation and violate the African Charter. Uganda’s actions directly contradict those principles.
Paradigm Initiative, a digital rights organization working across Africa, condemned the directives as a direct assault on media freedom and the public’s right to receive information. In a statement, the group warned that blocking protest coverage undermines the press’s role as a democratic watchdog and fuels the very misinformation the government claims to fear.
Preventing journalists from reporting on public dissent, the organization noted, increases speculation, heightens public tension, and corrodes trust in the electoral process itself. “These actions constitute serious violations of digital rights, media freedom, and democratic principles at a critical moment in the country’s electoral process,” it said in a statement seen by Impact Newswire. “Such restrictions…undermine the role of the press as a democratic watchdog. Suppressing coverage of protests fuels misinformation, heightens tension, and erodes public trust in the electoral process.”
The government’s assertion that it acted to prevent misinformation collapses under scrutiny. Cutting off access to verified information sources does not reduce falsehoods. It amplifies rumor, fear, and speculation. The blackout weakened the information environment it claimed to protect.
A Pattern of Silencing Dissent
The head of Uganda’s electoral commission told the BBC he has received threats urging him not to declare certain presidential candidates winners of Thursday’s election.
Simon Byabakama says the warnings came from senior state officials, whom he did not name, but insisted they would not influence his conduct or the outcome of the vote.
He was responding to a press question about a widely circulated video in which a presidential assistant is heard saying that the electoral commission would never declare opposition candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, president, even if he were to win the election.
“Some people say if you don’t declare so-and-so as president, you will see. I tell them that I am not in the business of donating votes,” said Byabakama. “You can see from my demeanour that fear is a word that does not exist in my vocabulary.”
Opposition figures anticipated the shutdown. Kyagulanyi, President Museveni’s most prominent challenger, had warned supporters to expect digital restrictions and urged them to document events offline where possible.
In response, Ugandans turned to alternative tools such as Bluetooth-based mesh messaging apps that do not rely on centralized internet infrastructure. Downloads of such apps surged briefly, according to app store rankings reported by regional technology outlets.
These workarounds are telling. Citizens do not adopt emergency communication tools unless they expect censorship. The shutdown confirmed those expectations.
This pattern is not unique to Uganda, but Uganda’s persistence in deploying it marks a deeper regression. Across Africa, governments that fear electoral uncertainty increasingly treat digital space as territory to be controlled rather than a public utility to be protected. Uganda’s blackout fits squarely within that authoritarian trend.
Blanket shutdowns are illegal under international standards precisely because they are indiscriminate. They punish millions for the actions of a few, or more often, for the fears of those in power.
A Blow to Credibility
The shutdown has damaged Uganda’s credibility far beyond election day. Investors view arbitrary internet disruptions as a sign of regulatory instability. Journalists and diplomats see them as indicators of democratic backsliding. Citizens interpret them as confirmation that the state does not trust its own people.
Once that trust is broken, it is difficult to restore. Repeated shutdowns normalize censorship. They teach citizens to expect silence when accountability matters most. They also erode confidence in electoral outcomes, regardless of who wins.
Uganda’s government insists that these measures are temporary. History suggests otherwise. Each election introduces new restrictions, broader shutdowns, and fewer explanations.
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