Overview
- Uganda’s communications regulator ordered an indefinite shutdown starting Tuesday evening, also halting new SIM sales and outbound data roaming to curb what it called misinformation and fraud.
- Independent network monitors, including NetBlocks, Cloudflare Radar and IODA, reported a sharp drop in connectivity, with only limited critical services remaining reachable, according to Human Rights Watch.
- Polling opened on Thursday with heavy police and military deployments and earlier arrests of hundreds of Bobi Wine’s supporters, with at least one person reported killed during campaign events.
- The UN Human Rights Office called the restrictions deeply worrying, and Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the blanket shutdown violates rights and threatens oversight of the vote.
- President Yoweri Museveni, 81, seeks another term against Bobi Wine, 43, as opposition figures warn of possible manipulation and promise protests if results are stolen, with results expected within 48 hours after polls close at 4 p.m. local time.