Photo: Collected

KAMPALA, Jan 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Uganda said Sunday it would maintain a ban 
on social media platforms, while lifting a nationwide internet block hours 
after longtime ruler Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner of national 
elections.

The internet was blocked two days before polls opened on Thursday. While the 
government said that was necessary to curb "misinformation", the United 
Nations labelled the decision "deeply worrying".

Although much of the country remained calm after the vote, there were reports 
of small-scale protests late Saturday after the results, with AFP journalists 
hearing tear gas in parts of capital Kampala.

As of Sunday morning, the security presence in Kampala appeared to have 
significantly decreased with people out on the streets and shops open.

"Social media platforms... remain temporarily restricted to continue 
safeguarding against misuse that could threaten public order," said George 
Nyombi Thembo, executive director of Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

He confirmed the return of most of the internet, while justifying the days-
long suspension as "necessary and proportionate".

The cut was to "prevent the rapid spread of misinformation, disinformation, 
and malinformation, to curb potential electoral fraud and protect against 
incitement to violence during a highly sensitive national period", he said.

Thembo declined to say when full access would be restored, telling reporters: 
"I don't want to put estimate."

"We are a reasonable agency. We are a reasonable government. We don't expect 
this to exceed a reasonable time that will mitigate the risk that we are 
seeing," he said.

It comes after an election characterised by low turnout and major security 
deployments, as the government sought to prevent protests similar to those 
seen in neighbouring Tanzania during polls in October last year.

Analysts have long viewed Ugandan election as a formality, with Museveni 
exerting total control over the state and security apparatus.