Uganda cuts the internet before election day as Museveni seeks another term
Event date: 2026-01-13
Uganda has imposed a nationwide internet blackout two days before its presidential election, a move that has intensified concerns about political repression and the shrinking space for opposition campaigning.
According to reporting from Al Jazeera, a government regulatory body ordered mobile network operators to block public internet access from 6pm local time on Tuesday, with NetBlocks later confirming a nation-scale disruption to connectivity. The shutdown comes as President Yoweri Museveni, 81, seeks what would be his seventh term in office after nearly four decades in power.
The timing matters because the vote was already unfolding in a climate of fear and confrontation. Al Jazeera reported that security personnel had rounded up hundreds of opposition supporters in the run-up to the poll and repeatedly used live ammunition and tear gas at campaign rallies for Museveni’s main challenger, pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine. Opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who has challenged Museveni in four previous elections, was also described as being in jail on treason charges.
Ugandan authorities defended the shutdown as a response to what they called misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks. But the United Nations Human Rights Office has criticised the government for fostering an environment of widespread repression and intimidation, and the International Crisis Group has assessed that Museveni’s grip on state power has made re-election all but locked down.
The blackout is not an isolated step. Al Jazeera said the government also ordered two local rights groups, Chapter Four Uganda and Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, to halt their work. One of those organisations was accused by the state-run National Bureau for NGOs of engaging in activity prejudicial to national security.
For the opposition, a communications shutdown can be more than a symbolic gesture. It can interrupt mobilising, reporting and documentation at the exact moment when political pressure is highest. Kristof Titeca, a Uganda expert at Antwerp University, told Al Jazeera that the clampdown has made it too dangerous for the opposition to organise effectively.
Uganda has done this before. Internet access was also blocked during the 2021 election, which was marred by reports of state violence and electoral manipulation. This time, authorities had earlier said claims that the internet would be cut were false and misleading, only to move ahead with the suspension shortly before the vote.
The country’s electoral commission says 21.6 million people are registered to vote. In addition to Museveni and Wine, six other candidates are in the race. But with the internet switched off and rights groups facing pressure, the election is taking place under conditions that make independent scrutiny far harder.
The evidence in this packet supports a narrow conclusion: Uganda’s authorities have deliberately interrupted internet access on the eve of a crucial vote, and that decision has amplified already serious concerns about intimidation, information control and the fairness of the contest.
Claim-to-source map - Uganda imposed a nationwide internet blackout before the election: source 9343 - The cutoff began at 6pm local time on Tuesday and NetBlocks confirmed disruption: source 9343 - Museveni is seeking a seventh term and Bobi Wine is his main challenger: source 9343 - Security forces have arrested opposition supporters and used tear gas and live bullets at rallies: source 9343 - The government also ordered rights groups to stop work: source 9343
