Uganda cuts internet days before presidential election | Elections News

The blackout comes as President Yoweri Museveni, who has been criticized for cracking down on opponents, is running for his seventh term.

Ugandan authorities have imposed a nationwide internet blackout days before presidential elections that are expected to prolong President Yoweri Museveni’s 40-year rule.

A government regulatory body directed mobile network operators to block public internet access from 6pm (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Internet monitor NetBlocks later confirmed a “nation-wide disruption of Internet connectivity”.

The network outage has heightened concerns about repression ahead of the January 15 vote, in which 81-year-old Museveni, Africa’s third-longest-serving leader, is being challenged by pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine.

Museveni’s re-election ‘everything but lockdown’

Ugandan security personnel rounded up hundreds of opposition supporters ahead of the vote and repeatedly fired shots and tear gas at pro-alcohol campaign rallies. Meanwhile, opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who challenged Museveni in the last four elections, remains in jail on treason charges.

The United Nations Human Rights Office has criticized Ugandan authorities for creating an environment of “widespread repression and intimidation” ahead of the vote.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group assessed that Museveni, “with his tight grip on the levers of state power… has sealed re-election.”

Wine sees her candidacy as a campaign “against impunity,” Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi reported from Kampala, Uganda. But “they don’t believe they’re going to get free or fair elections.”

Government bans operation of two NGOs

Museveni’s government said security forces were taking action to prevent disorderly conduct by opposition supporters. The Uganda Communications Commission defended the internet shutdown as necessary to prevent “misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks”.

In addition to cutting off the internet, the government on Tuesday ordered two local rights groups critical of the authorities – Chapter Four Uganda and the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda – to cease their work.

The state-run National Bureau for NGOs accused Chapter Four Uganda of engaging in activities “harmful” to Uganda’s security and “must cease operations with immediate effect”.

Christophe Titeka, a Uganda expert based at the University of Antwerp, said the government’s crackdown made it “very dangerous” for the opposition to organize effectively.

“The price people have to pay for engaging in political protest has become too high,” Titeka said.

Uganda also blocked internet access during its last election in 2021 – a vote that was marred by reports of state violence and electoral manipulation. Authorities had repeatedly promised that the internet would remain available this time, most recently on January 5, saying that “claims suggesting otherwise are false, misleading, and intended to create unnecessary fear and stress among the public”.

Apart from Museveni and Wine, six other candidates are running for president in the East African country of about 45 million people. Election officials say there are 21.6 million registered voters.