Pop star Bobi Wine or Strongman ‘M7’?
Kabo Ramasia | Friday January 16, 2026 11:26
On Thursday, millions of Ugandans went to the polls to cast their vote in the presidential elections pitting longtime authoritarian, Yoweri 'M7' Museveni, against pop star Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, in an election that, if won by Museveni, would grant him a seventh term, extending his nearly 40 years of rule.
Born in 1944, the Ugandan leader often referred to as a ‘dictator’ turns 82 years old in September. Museveni rose to power in 1986, after leading a rebel movement that, with the help of Tanzania, overthrew then-President Idi Amin.
In September 2025, the World Bank wrote that the Ugandan economy remained strong.
“Real GDP growth accelerated from 6.1 percent in FY24 to an estimated 6.8 percent in FY25. “This robust performance was mainly driven on the supply side by improvement in the commodity producing sectors as well as in manufacturing,” noted the World Bank. “This was particularly notable in pharmaceuticals and construction-related activities, which stood out. “In contrast, the services sector recorded a broad-based deceleration. On the demand side, household consumption remained strong and a key contributor to growth, followed by government consumption.”
The World Bank further noted that gross fixed capital formation posted moderate growth, consistent with the rise in construction activity. Further, it said high-frequency indicators continue to support this dynamic growth, reflecting stronger demand, increased new orders, and higher output across sectors.
Regarding the economy, agriculture has been at the epicentre of the country’s economy alongside refined gold and a thriving tourism sector.
The World Bank said Museveni has overseen sustained economic growth. The report, however, also noted that close to 60% of Ugandans live on $3 or less. The government has been accused of corruption, which has weakened the economy.
Meanwhile, presidential aspirant Wine, 43, has promised a better tomorrow should he be voted into power. Wine has vowed to tackle corruption and impose sweeping economic reformations. The opposition leader lost to Museveni in 2021 in a highly contested election that he would later protest. Subsequently, he withdrew the challenge, saying that 'the courts are not independent.'
On January 13, as the election date approached, the Uganda Communications Commission issued a communique to all Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and Internet Service Providers (ISP) announcing a temporary suspension of public internet access and selected mobile services during the election period. The statement said the suspension took effect on 13th January at 1800hrs.
“Following a strong recommendation from the Inter-Agency Security Committee, the Uganda Communications Commission duly directs all the licensed MNOs and ISPs to implement a temporary suspension of the following services: public internet access, sale and registration of new sim cards (and) outbound data roaming services to One Network Area countries.”
Speaking to Mmegi via WhatsApp (before the Internet blackout), Kampala, Uganda-based investigative journalist, Suhail Mugabi, said this was not the first time the government ordered an Internet shutdown during elections. Mugabi said in 2021 Museveni ordered an Internet shutdown, and in the 2016 elections, he ordered a social media shutdown. Mugabi noted that when social media was disrupted, citizens resorted to Virtual Private Networks to communicate, hence now, the government is going for a total shutdown to ensure that people do not find alternative means of communication.
“What we do have is now a precedence of total Internet shutdown towards elections, and you can’t access even other services like mobile money transactions, and it's really bad. One can’t access even simple things like entertainment,” said Mugabi.
According to Mugabi, Internet-based entertainment has thus been denied to the citizenry. He says this is yet one of those elections where the State has applied all its might to ensure people don’t get all the information they need.
Further to this sad tale, he complained that Ugandans have been ordered to cast their ballots and leave the polling stations; anyone who resists will be arrested or have it rough. However, he said by law, people are allowed to be 20 metres away from ballot boxes once they have cast their votes, so that they can transparently see what is happening.
The seasoned journalist decried that adherence to such statutes is often challenging even to the lawmakers themselves. Additionally, he adds that there is a heavy military presence in the streets.
Furthermore, he disclosed that the Internet outage can go on until the powers that be believe that the country has “settled”. He said this might have been meant to counter the Gen Z who intended to protest using the Internet as a tool for mobilisation. He anticipated that a basic scenario would be that the outage would last for five days. However, he feared that if there were protests post-elections, then the blackout may be prolonged.
As per information from Uganda, by the time of the elections, all human-rights based Non-Governmental Organisations were barred from operating in the country. According to the investigative reporter, the government suspended their operating licenses and closed their accounts.
For now, the world waits with bated breath to see if Uganda’s strongman will once again emerge victorious at the polls or will, for the first time in close to four decades, finally be vanquished.
Voting had commenced as at press time on Thursday, although there were reports of late openings of some polling stations.