Tough new regulations forcing Ugandan social media influencers and bloggers to register their platforms for state monitoring has prompted outrage and fears that the government is trying to censor critical voices ahead of elections in 2021.

Earlier this year, Uganda’s Communications Commission (UCC) directed all online data communication service providers, including online publishers, owners of online news platforms, and the operators of online sites for radio and television channels to obtain authorisation from the central regulator before they are allowed to operate.

The scheme, which also charges users an annual licence fee of $20 and is ostensibly designed to clamp down on “immoral” content, is targeted at online personalities with large followings on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, according to Ibrahim Bbosa, UCC’s spokesperson.

This includes prominent activists, bloggers, politicians, socialites, musicians and journalists.

And there are fears that the law is being used to censor anyone critical of the government.

Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation Show all 18 1 /18 Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-1.JPG Charles Marekera, 16, lived with his mother and father in ‘Villa’ in DRC. The Marekera family were forced to leave because their son was persecuted for being an albino. His father, was repeatedly beaten after refusing to sell Charles to witchdoctors, who believe teeth, fingers and eyes brought good luck to those who bought their body parts. The transition for Charles arriving in Uganda from DRC has left him with large gaps in his education. Leaving as a senior in secondary school, he now finds himself back in primary school. The sixteen-year-old faces a similar stigma as an albino in Uganda. His long walks to school are interrupted by strangers attempting to lure him away to profit from the sale of his body parts. Charles explained: “I will never feel safe, however my safety now is less important to me than getting an education. I am determined to get my diploma and have a job where I can help protect the rights of other albino’s.” Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-2.JPG Justine Ainembabazi, 12, born in Western Uganda, has attended Bisozi Primary School, Kamwenge District, Western Uganda for three years. Her parents are peasant farmers, growing maze and bananas. To fund school fees her father sells a bean crop at the market. Uganda abolished all school fees at primary level in 1997 to increase access to basic education, however increasing enrolment from 2.5 million learners in 1996 to 8.3 million in 2015 created enormous financial pressures. An ‘informal’ school fee system is now one of Uganda’s greatest barriers to achieving Universal Primary Education. Typically fees at P1 level are UGX 35,000 per term (£7.50) going up in P6 to 50,000 per term (£10.75). Many parents earn less than £0.75 per day and cannot afford to send their children to school each term. Justine dreams of becoming a doctor and being able to help people, especially her relatives if they get sick. She said: “With hard work and educational support, she will get there”. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-3.jpg Niyosenga Annilah ,12, arrived from Kiyiri, DRC, in 2016. Her mother was killed in the fierce fighting which swept through towns and villages. She made the journey with her father and grandmother to the relative safe haven of Uganda to join the 1,205,913 refugees. Children representing some 62% (UN Refugee Agency UNHCR February 2019). The twelve-year-old remained out of education in DRC until the age of 9 as the long walk to school was too dangerous with roads closed by police or rebel militia. To help pay for Niyosenga’s school fees her father grows maze and her grandmother, 72, weaves baskets. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-4.JPG A young boy peers into a lesson at Bisozi Primary School. Many ‘early learners’ follow their elder siblings to school and play in the grounds until the end of the day, as working parents cannot afford child care as access to early years education is not free. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-5.JPG Sylvia Owemana, 13, originates from Chibawaw village in DRC. She arrived in Western Uganda with her parents and grandmother two years ago, displaced by the ongoing civil war. She saw many relatives murdered in their village. The journey to safety took one month, where they begged for food and lifts along the route. One month after their arrival, Sylvia’s mother, father and siblings returned to DRC, she remained with her grandmother, Yosephina, 81. They live in a small dark mud lined hut, no larger than two metres square. Life on their own is extremely hard: “We have a poor house and life is poor, it is very difficult”. She says Sylvia dreams of becoming a Police woman: “She respects the woman in the police and she says it will allow her to protect people from bad things.” The only way she believes she can achieve her dreams is to remain in education full time. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-6.JPG Yosephina is, despite her elderly years, forced to work on nearby plantations to provide for them both, including Sylvia’s education. If there is no work they do not eat. She explained that they only have one meal per day and each week there are at least two days where they do not eat at all. Syvia’s fees are the equivalent of £7.50 per term. Yosephina wants to ensure her granddaughter has the best chances possible to fulfil her dreams, “I really don’t mind if Sylvia never helps me in my old age, I just want her to be happy and to succeed in school and be able to support and sustain herself when she leaves education”. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-7.JPG Furaha Nshekanabo, 6, attends Buremba Primary School. She is a member of the Batwa ‘Pygmy’ tribe, forced out of their native home in the Bwindi Forest to make way for a national park protected as a UNESCO world heritage site. She lives in Kitahurira Settlement Camp, about 2.5 kilometres from her school and to walk takes 3 hours. The construction of schools and training of teachers in remote areas of challenging geography ensures those hardest to reach have a right to education. Building Tomorrow Uganda through Partnership with Education Above All foundation has enrolled 53,373 out of school (OOSC) children back into quality primary education in Uganda. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-8.JPG Ikiriza Misach, 5, lives in a small house with his nine brothers and sisters. His parents struggle to afford the school tuition fees for all the children. Meaning he has to fund his own by working weekends carrying plastic cans of water from the lake for households in the neighbourhood. He dreams of one day becoming a doctor so that he can help his father who suffers with ill health. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-9.JPG Mucunguzi Owen, 16, has been enrolled in Buremba Primary school since 2007 and is one of eight siblings. Now in older years at school, he must pay more money. His parents are peasant farmers and work the land digging and picking tea, this means they must work most days to be able to keep up the payments. Buremba School is one of 60 new schools constructed under the Building Tomorrow and Educate A Child programme in Uganda. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-10.JPG Shanitah Kyarikunda, 9, was forced to drop out from school this term after her father died and her mother abandoned her and remarried into a different district. She wants to return to school desperately. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-11.JPG Paddy Dowling Abigulu Akansasira, 4, was spotted in the camp carrying a small digging pick with a shortened handle that enables him to join relatives in the fields to learning from a young age. He was also part of the Batwa Pygmy’s were forced off Bwindi Forest. Abigulu could start school but his grandmother who cares for him is unsure she will be able to afford the ‘informal fees’. She picks 20kgs of tea per day and his paid 100 shillings per kilo, equivalent to £0.43 per day. Private tea growers in Uganda employ children of primary school ages to work the fields to picking tea that have dropped out of school. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-12.JPG Alonah Kyatuheire, 5, lives in Kitahurira Settlement Camp. Her parents are farmers, but they do not cultivate or own their own land. Like many Batwa in the area who are landless due to their eviction from the Bwindi Forest, they lend themselves out as farm hands to make ends meet. They live about 2 kilometres from their Building Tomorrow school and alongside her two sisters, they walk together with the larger group of 23 who set off from the camp around 7am each day, only arriving at their destination at around 10. All the children walk barefoot to and from school and are routinely about 2 hours late for school each day. They would leave earlier if they thought it would be safe, however travelling in the dark prevents this. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-13.JPG An ‘informal’ school fee system has now become one of Uganda’s greatest barrier to achieving Universal Primary Education. This typically includes; uniforms, pens, exercise books and school meals. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-14.JPG Kikoko Geofrey, 80, is a Batwa tribe elder. He explained how the Ugandan government declaring the ‘Bwindi Forest’ a National Park in 1992 affected his life. Over a thousand years of history and culture, the last genuine hunter gatherers, forcibly evicted, reduced to tourist entertainment at 70USD per person. Goverment forest guards were employed to forcibly remove and evict the Batwa from the land they had occupied for centuries. When they were moved to the outer perimeters of the Bwindi, they realised they had no access to the fruits of the forest and were yet to be taught the skills to cultivate the land. Many Batwa starved, became ill and died. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-15.JPG Rutaro Denis, 15, was enrolled at Buremba Primary School but dropped out aged 14, unable to complete as his family could no longer afford the fees. Now, he picks tea leaves and explains how much he used to enjoy school. However, for him, the three hour walk each way was exhausting. Rutaro understands well that he will face a life of hardship, he admitted that “Going to school is easier than picking tea”. Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-16.JPG After the rain, a student stands in a puddle of water at Buremba Primary School. Paddy Dowling Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-17.JPG Batwa students from Buremba Primary School heading home to their settlement, almost three hours away. Paddy Dowling Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC Uganda’s hardest mile: Racing to rescue an endangered generation PD-UGANDA-18.jpg Holding prayers, Reverend Tiyeitu Amos of Buremba Church Of Uganda, chairman of the foundation body (construction committee) of Building Tomorrow Buremba Primary School. His church donated the land such that the school could be built. Building Tomorrow Uganda through Partnership with EAA has enrolled 53,373 out of school (OOSC) children back into quality primary education. They have achieved this through constructing 60 new primary schools by 2019 and boost enrolment at 450 existing schools, placing ‘fellows’ (university graduates) into the community as role models to encourage school enrolment into the primary level. Paddy Dowling Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC

The regulations came shortly after a prominent academic was jailed for 18 months for criticising the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni in a graphic Facebook post about his 33-year rule.

Stella Nyanzi, a feminist, activist and university lecturer who previously branded the head of state as a “pair of buttocks” and first lady, who is also education minister, “empty-brained” was convicted and sentenced for cyber harassment. She was acquitted of a charge of offensive communication.

At least 33 Ugandans have been summoned, arrested, charged or prosecuted between 2016 and 2018, under the country’s previous cyber laws, according to Unwanted Witness, a digital communications watchdog.

Grace Natabaalo, communications specialist at the African Centre for Media Excellence said the law posed a threat to free expression.

“This is a clearly an attempt by the state to clamp down on free expression aimed at throttling any threat to Museveni’s power,” said Ms Natabaalo.

Faith Muluni, an online producer and radio presenter based in Kampala is suspicious of the new legislation.

This is simply intended to create fear in the population. President Museveni knows that he has nothing left to offer except instilling fear and intimidation Bobi Wine, pop singer turned politician

“A lot of questions cross my mind, why the sudden interest in ‘regulating’ online activities on people’s personal pages.

“I am able to pay the licence but that means I need now to ‘tone down’ since there is [also] now a Computer Misuse Act that has been used to persecute activists and those who don’t seem to agree with the current regime,” she said.

The act has made cyber harassment and offensive communication crimes.

The former is punishable by a fine of some $134 (£104) or a prison sentence of up to a year. Cyber harassment carries a more hefty weight: $660 in fines and up to five years in jail.

“If this is a move to widen the country’s tax base – I definitely think there were better ways of going about it and it could have been a lot more consultative.”

Critics view the rules as the authoritarian march – part of government’s scheme to stifle freedom of expression and suppress online content disapproving Museveni’s government, especially youth, ahead of 2021 polls.

The central executive committee of Museveni’s ruling party, one of Africa’s longest ruling leaders, recently endorsed him as their sole candidate in 2021.

“If you look at the recent history of internet and media controls in this country you realise that the commission and other organs of this government, including the police, are eager to institute regressive controls on communications around the election period,” said Wairagala Wakabi, executive director at Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa.

“They are not comfortable with citizens organising, communicating, expressing themselves and having access to a full range of information to inform their decision making; actively monitor electoral process and vote counting in the 2021 coming elections,” he said.

And the laws were encouraging self-censorship, he added.

“It’s a range of measures that add up citizens withdrawing from online public sphere, fearing to participate online, speak their minds and mobilise. Those who are active massively do self-censorship.”

In the 2006, 2011 and 2016 elections, the government blocked or shut down social media and websites, ahead of and even during the polling period.

“It’s obvious these measures [registration and licensing] are among those intended to curb what citizens may be able to do with social media in the coming elections, which are obviously going to be the most contested,” said Mr Wakabi.

Gerald Walulya, a lecturer at the department of Journalism and Communication, Makerere University, also said it seemed possible the state was trying to minimise critical voices.

“It is very possible that the state is [trying] to suppress critical voices online ahead of the 2021 elections,” said Mr Walulya.

And the government is perhaps most threatened by Uganda’s youth, who constitute the majority of internet users.

“Considering that the youths are the majority users of online platforms, the government through UCC is trying to find ways of suppressing their opinions,” Mr Walulya said.

“This development is also closely associated with the rise in a youthful opposition led by Kyadondo East legislator, Robert Kyagulanyi.”

Ugandan academic gets prison for calling president 'a pair of buttocks', flashes breasts in protest

Mr Kyagulanyi, a pop star turned politician, commonly known by his stage name, Bobi Wine has emerged as the strongest opponent to Museveni in the 2021 polls.

Male Mabirizi Kiwanuka, a Kampala based lawyer said the directive is illegal and outside the mandate given to UCC in the Communications Act, 2013.

“The function of UCC is to regulate services. Media influencers, bloggers and online newspapers are not communication services,” said Mr Mabirizi. “UCC needs to be sued by those interested.”

In February, the Uganda Law Society, an umbrella association of lawyers, petitioned the Constitutional Court seeking the declaration of two sections of cyber harassment and offensive communication of Computer Misuse Act of 2011, another punitive law – as “null and void”.

The security agencies continue to closely monitor social media comments for “offensive” statements and prosecute authors.

“Any postings of false fabrications will attract punishment in accordance with the laws,” said Fred Enanga, Uganda’s police spokesperson.

“The joint forces will continue using the acquired capabilities to monitor comments on social media and any offenders will be investigated and punished,” he said.

“This is simply intended to create fear in the population. President Museveni knows that he has nothing left to offer except instilling fear and intimidation,” Bobi Wine said in a statement.