Uganda announced that access to websites, including news outlets and online financial and educational services, has been restored.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) revealed the move on Sunday, adding that social media platforms and messaging apps were still blocked to guard against misuse that could threaten public order.
“The Commission will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates on any further adjustments as circumstances evolve,” said the UCC’s executive director, Nyombi Thembo.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) was instructed by the government’s Inter-Agency Security Committee to temporarily suspend public internet access and certain mobile services prior to last Thursday’s election.
Only services that were considered necessary were kept online by the government. As a result, the public was cut off from important discourse and information sources.
The UCC argued that the restrictions were imposed to “mitigate the rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation, curb risks of electoral fraud, and prevent incitement to violence, all of which could undermine public order, national security and the integrity of the electoral process.”
Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine, visited his party’s website to denounce the results, which showed that the incumbent president, Yoweri Museveni, had received 72% of the vote.
He accused the government of killing demonstrators, stuffing ballots, and imprisoning opposition leaders and poll workers.