Ugandan authorities partially restored internet services late on Saturday following the re-election of 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni, who secured a seventh term and extended his rule into a fifth decade with a landslide victory rejected by the opposition.
According to Reuters, users reported being able to reconnect to the internet around 11 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on Saturday, although some service providers sent messages to customers saying the state regulator had instructed them to restore services while keeping social media offline.
“We have restored internet so that businesses that rely on internet can resume work,” David Birungi, spokesperson for Airtel Uganda, one of the country’s largest telecom companies, told Reuters.
He added that the state communications regulator had ordered social media to remain blocked.
The state-run Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) said the internet shutdown was implemented to curb “misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks.”
The opposition, however, argued that the move was intended to control the electoral process and secure a victory for the incumbent. UCC spokesperson Ibrahim Bbosa did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The electoral commission declared Museveni the winner on Saturday, awarding him 71.6% of the vote, while his rival, pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, received 24%.
A joint report from election observers from the African Union and other regional organizations criticized the military’s involvement in the elections and the internet shutdown.
“The internet shut down implemented two days before the elections limited access to information, freedom of association, curtailed economic activities…it also created suspicion and mistrust on the electoral process,” the report said.
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Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is currently Africa’s third longest-serving head of state. His latest victory means he will have ruled for nearly half a century when his new term ends in 2031.
He is widely believed to be preparing his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is currently head of the military, to succeed him. Kainerugaba has expressed presidential ambitions.
Wine, who challenged Museveni for the second time, rejected the election results and alleged mass fraud.
Scattered opposition protests erupted late Saturday following the announcement of the results, according to Reuters witnesses and police reports.
In Magere, a northern suburb of Kampala where Wine lives, youths burned tyres and set up barricades, prompting police to respond with tear gas.
Police spokesperson Racheal Kawala said the protests were quelled and arrests were made, though the number of detainees would be released later. Wine’s whereabouts were unknown early Sunday, after he said in a post on X that he had escaped a military raid on his home.
People close to him told Reuters that he remained at an undisclosed location in Uganda. Wine was briefly placed under house arrest following the previous election in 2021.
He has also said that hundreds of his supporters were detained in the months leading up to the vote and that others were tortured.
Government officials have denied these allegations, stating that those detained had violated the law and would be processed according to due legal procedures.
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Image Credit: FMT
