KAMPALA, Uganda — As Uganda enters the final stretch toward its January 15, 2026 general election, the battle for political power is increasingly being waged not just in rallies and courtrooms, but across the country’s digital infrastructure.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA)’s recent directive restricting the importation of Starlink satellite internet equipment represents far more than a bureaucratic regulatory dispute.
It signals a strategic effort by the state to consolidate control over the country’s information ecosystem, and to close what many in the opposition view as the last remaining channel for independent election communication.
The new battleground: Uganda’s ‘Digital Commons’
For over two decades, President Yoweri Museveni’s administration has maintained firm control over broadcast media, print licensing, and telecommunications. In recent election cycles, this control expanded decisively into cyberspace.
What has changed in 2025 is the arrival of low-orbit satellite internet, a technology that bypasses national telecom operators and, crucially, state monitoring infrastructure.
By placing Starlink equipment under military clearance, a function previously managed by civilian tax authorities — the government is erecting what analysts describe as a “digital enclosure”: a closed communications environment in which all politically meaningful data flows remain subject to state oversight.
The securitization of connectivity
The most consequential development is not the restriction itself but who now controls it.
A leaked internal memo dated December 19 shows authority over satellite communication imports shifting to the office of Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the president’s son and a central figure in Uganda’s succession politics.
This transfer reclassifies internet connectivity from an economic good into a matter of national security.
In effect, the state is declaring that access to independent digital networks is no longer a civilian matter.
Why Starlink matters
Traditional telecom operators; MTN, Airtel, Zuku, and other telcos — remain fully integrated into Uganda’s regulatory framework. During elections, their services can be restricted, throttled, or shut down through directives from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
Starlink cannot. Its decentralized architecture links users directly to satellites rather than domestic servers, making it resistant to nationwide blackouts.
For election observers, civil society, and opposition groups planning independent results transmission and “parallel tallying,” this represents a critical technological advantage.
Also Read: President Museveni welcomes Elon Musk’s Starlink in Uganda
Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) summarized the stakes bluntly:
“If they are not planning electoral fraud, why are they so afraid of people accessing the internet during the electoral process?”
A pattern of digital control
Uganda’s approach is not unprecedented.
- 2021 election: the government imposed a total internet blackout days before voting, crippling independent observation and real-time reporting.
- 2026 outlook: with satellite internet now accessible to private citizens, a repeat of that tactic becomes ineffective unless the hardware itself is blocked.
The current clampdown closes that loophole.
Regulatory justification vs political reality
Officials argue Starlink lacks a domestic operating license. Yet the contrast with neighboring states is stark. Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Mozambique have actively embraced satellite internet for rural development and economic inclusion.
Uganda’s decision — arriving as campaigns intensify and international scrutiny mounts — is being interpreted by diplomats and civil society groups as a move driven less by regulation and more by electoral risk management.
The strategic calculation
For the Museveni government, the calculation is simple: Whoever controls connectivity controls narrative, turnout, verification, and legitimacy.
With Uganda’s youngest electorate in history and social media serving as the primary organizing tool for opposition movements, unrestricted internet access is now as politically consequential as control of security forces.
