Uganda’s communications authority ordered a nationwide internet shutdown during the recent general election, significantly impacting daily life and businesses across the country. That blackout came at a critical moment, as Ugandans were on predawn vigil for their election results. As tensions flared, the timing could not have been more crucial. As a consequence, many of its residents, government operations, nonprofits, and private sector organizations suffered devastating interruptions, leaving much of the community in economic ruin and informational chaos.
The shutdown affected Kampala more severely than we had anticipated. It prevented local entrepreneur Mirembe Tracy from operating even a single day of business. That disruption severed her capacity to link with clients and process orders online. Consequently, her business was completely shut down during the height of her busy season.
Namukwaya Olivia, who sells traditional cultural attire, experienced the impacts of the shutdown. She used Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp more than ever to reach her customers. With the blackout, her income went from close to $1,300 a month down to zero overnight. She lamented, “We could not send pictures, we could not receive orders, and we could not make deliveries.”
The impact was not limited to businesses. For final-year secondary school pupil, Aaron Benitez, being cut off from his family became a huge challenge. He expressed his frustration: “I needed to know what was happening with my family and what was going on in the country. I could not connect with them at all.” His educational pursuits were equally ground to a halt. “We usually study online, sometimes on Zoom, but during that time everything just stopped.”
Young people were up against another obstacle too. Recently, 20 year-old Ronnie Mwesigwa told us that he lost touch with friends and was struck by the lack of online entertainment. “I couldn’t communicate with anyone, and even gaming was gone,” he stated.
For journalist Ngabo Amon, who depended on his smartphone to report and share news, this created enormous challenges too. His device became almost entirely inoperable during the shutdown, making it much more difficult for him to file material back to his home newsroom. After days of searching for internet access without success, he reflected on the experience: “People bought what they could afford, went back home and just watched, because there were no other options.”
The African Union’s election observation mission condemned the internet shutdown as it “limited access to information, freedom of association [and] curtailed economic activities.” They wrote, it “fueled suspicion and mistrust” among citizens on an already supercharged election burghal atmosphere.
As voting concluded and President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner, the government began restoring internet access. At 81 years old, Museveni wired a victory and prolonged his 40-year rule. Even after this win, aren’t the fears of the people affected by the blackout assuaged? Thousands of people had become disillusioned by the democratic process and were angered by the lack of communication forced upon them by the federal government.
Caroline Mutai, a Kenya-based journalist covering the election, described the emotional toll of the internet shutdown: “It almost gave me depression.” The lack of an opportunity to broadcast breaking news updates or reach out to expert sources severely limited her ability to do her job in an especially urgent time.
The ramifications of an internet disruption this broad go far beyond just financial losses. While k-12 students experienced prolonged outages to their learning journey through an evolution that mainly happens online. The educational system’s transition to online and remote learning has made these blackouts especially harmful.