On Tuesday, January 13, as the sun set over Kampala, Ugandas digital heartbeat flatlined. Following a directive from the state regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission UCC, mobile network operators were ordered to suspend public internet access nationwide from 6 p.m., plunging approximately 27 million users into online silence just 48 hours before a pivotal presidential election .
The official justification, citing the prevention of misinformation, disinformation, and electoral fraud, was a stark reversal of the governments own assurances. Only a week prior, on January 5, senior officials had held a press briefing to label rumours of a shutdown as false and misleading , intended to cause unnecessary fear and tension . This pattern of pre-election blackouts is now a familiar one a similar five-day shutdown marred the 2021 election .
For the opposition, led by pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, the move was a predictable act of repression aimed at stifling organisation and independent verification of results . It was a move they had anticipated and, crucially, had prepared for.
