How Uganda’s 2026 Election Redefined State Overreach

Trusting the government to protect your fundamental rights to privacy and freedom? Think again!

In the early evening of January 13, 2026, the digital lights went out across Uganda. As the nation prepared for a high-stakes general election, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) issued a directive to all telecommunications providers to suspend public internet access. By 6:00 PM, a country of 45 million people was plunged into a state-mandated information vacuum.

While the government framed the blackout as a precautionary intervention to curb misinformation, the reality on the ground told a different story.

The Law as a Weapon

Under President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power since 1986, the Ugandan government has mastered the art of using the law not as a shield for rights, but as a sword against dissent. In the 2026 cycle, we witnessed a three-pronged legal assault on privacy and information.

The UCC invoked broad “national security” mandates to justify the shutdown. Yet, international law, and Uganda’s own Constitution, requires that any restriction on expression be necessary and proportional. By implementing a blanket, indefinite blackout, the state bypassed these tests, essentially declaring that the government’s convenience outweighs the citizens’ constitutional right to access information.

Prior to the total blackout, the government targeted alternative lifelines. Elon Musk’s Starlink was deactivated in early January under the guise of licensing requirements. While regulatory compliance is a standard legal hurdle, the timing suggested a strategic move to eliminate any platform the state could not directly throttle or monitor.

New directives issued just days before the vote banned the live streaming of unlawful processions and violent incidents. By making it a crime to record and share real-time evidence of state-led repression, the government effectively legislated away the public’s right to bear witness.

Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the 2026 shutdown was the preceding campaign of deception. As recently as January 5, the Ministry of ICT publicly dismissed rumours of a blackout as false and misleading. By promising transparency and then delivering a blackout, the state didn’t just violate privacy; it destroyed the fundamental trust required for a functional democracy.

Written by Clement Saudu

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