dpa | Before the parliamentary and presidential elections this Thursday The internet and access to various social media have been switched off in Uganda. Messenger services have also no longer been usable in the East African country since Tuesday evening. The measure was justified by a recommendation from the security authorities. The aim is to prevent the spread of false information about the election and voter fraud, it said.
A few days before, several had already had to Non-governmental organizations restrict their activities due to alleged violations of national interests. Among them are a journalists’ organization, an election monitoring organization and human rights groups.
Uganda’s 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni is running for a seventh term in the election. He has been at the head of the country since 1986. Among the eight candidates, former musician Robert Kyagulanyi, better known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is Museveni’s most promising competitor. It is particularly popular among young people. However, he experienced numerous restrictions during the election campaign. Security forces repeatedly prevented election events or broke them up using tear gas, as the human rights organization Amnesty International criticized.
Doubts about free and fair elections
“The police and military beat up people who stood in the streets waving to opposition candidates,” Ugandan human rights activist Agather Atuhaire told reporters in Nairobi. “This election is neither fair nor free. People are afraid to vote.”
“What is taking place here is not a democratic process, but a state-sponsored campaign of repression aimed at undermining the will of the Ugandan people,” East African activists in Nairobi, working with civil rights groups in Uganda, said on Wednesday about the election in the neighboring country. There were numerous irregularities during voter registration. The intimidation of journalists and the ban on reporting on protests related to the election were also criticized.
Warning of impending political instability
Mucahid Durmaz, Africa analyst at risk assessment firm Verisk Maplecriot, feared an increased risk of political instability surrounding the election. With absolute control over the state apparatus and a massive crackdown on the political opposition, Museveni’s victory is all but certain, he said. Given Museveni’s old age, his firm grip on power and the unresolved question of succession, the country is not prepared for a possible transition to a post-Museveni era.
At the same time, the election in Uganda represents an intra-African trend, he said Youth protests as previously in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar: “The growing gap between an increasingly young society and aging political leaders is a key source of political risk across Africa.