Uganda partially restores internet after president wins seventh term

Ugandan authorities late on Saturday partially restored internet services after 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni won a seventh term in office, extending his rule toward a fifth decade in a landslide victory rejected by the opposition.

Users reported regaining internet access, while some service providers notified customers that regulators had ordered services to resume, excluding social media platforms.

“We have restored internet so that businesses that rely on it can resume work,” said David Birungi, spokesperson for Airtel Uganda, one of the country’s largest telecom operators. He added that the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) had directed companies to keep social media blocked.

The state-run UCC said the shutdown was imposed to curb “misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks.” Opposition figures condemned the move, saying it was aimed at tightening control over the electoral process and ensuring victory for the incumbent.

Uganda’s electoral commission on Saturday declared Museveni the winner of Thursday’s vote with 71.6 percent of the ballots cast. His main challenger, pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, received 24 percent.

An election observer mission comprising the African Union and regional blocs criticized both the internet shutdown and the role of the military in the polls. “The internet shutdown implemented two days before the elections limited access to information, freedom of association and economic activity, and created suspicion and mistrust in the electoral process,” the observers said in a joint statement.

Museveni, who has been in power since 1986 and is Africa’s third longest-ruling head of state, will remain in office until 2031, meaning he will have governed Uganda for nearly 50 years by the end of his new term.

The president is widely believed to be grooming his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba — the current head of the military — as a potential successor. Kainerugaba has publicly expressed presidential ambitions.

Wine, who was challenging Museveni for a second time, rejected the election outcome, alleging widespread fraud. Scattered opposition protests erupted late on Saturday after the results were announced, according to witnesses and police.

In Magere, a northern Kampala suburb where Wine lives, youths burned tyres and erected road barricades, prompting police to disperse them with tear gas. Police spokesperson Racheal Kawala said the protests had been contained and arrests made, though she did not provide figures.

Wine said on X that he had narrowly escaped a military raid on his home, and his whereabouts were unknown early Sunday. People close to him said he was at an undisclosed location within Uganda. He was briefly placed under house arrest following the 2021 election.

Wine has alleged that hundreds of his supporters were detained in the run-up to the vote and that some were tortured. The government has denied the claims, saying all detainees violated the law and would be accorded due process.