Not so many year ago, the government came out and declared that we are moving from the analogue to digital as a country. The first order of business was to put a ban on all analogy TVs and right now we don’t have such in Uganda. Internet was made free in some areas and these are ever flocked with the youth who came to tap on free internet. Now due to elections that happening in the country the internet has been shut down across the country as a write this blog, it will be kept on my PC until internet is back on to be uploaded. I see everything wrong with this move from the government and collaborations with telecom companies and here is why;
Internet is a right
Every citizen has a right to be on the internet and this right shouldn’t be infringed upon. What happen to government protecting our rights? Uganda is a low developed country as a result most Ugandans can’t afford internet bills and out of 40 million people that liv in this country only 2 million afford internet and having their rights taken away is not a solution to election violence or any incitement that the government thinks people will cause.
Digital marketing companies and influencers
Facts show that 78% of the 40 million people that live in Uganda are youth who earn a living through digital marketing and social media influencing. Therefore, the internet shut down makes them lose money and their source of income even if it is for a day. Companies who pay taxes like safe Boda, Jumia among others only work online to earn income, even if it is one day, there is a lot of money that they have lost due to this shutdown because of elections.
COVID-19 and the new normal
Corona virus came and turn our lives upside down which meant that the whole world had to forge ways to succeed and continue operation because that did not die had to look for means of survival and follow the standard procedures stipulated out by World Health Organisation and ministry of health. This meant that we adapted to the new normal. Internet made things easy, education went online instead of the normal class room setting, companies resorting to working from home, banks and financial institutions went online among others. Shutting the internet down means that most of the work that is being done on internet has to stop or shutting down operations which in turn brings economic backwardness.
Zoom meetings, Google meet, micro soft teams among others made social distancing possible because people meet anywhere they are online and don’t have to meet physically. The internet shut down to God knows when means that urgent meetings will have to be carried out physically which may lead to the spread of corona virus. I am still wondering if the government thought about this act.
Telecom companies
My question to the telecom company is, where does your loyalty lie? Is it to your customers who have supported you through the eyes or the government that licenses you? I believe we deserved a warming so that we can prepare for this shut down. We are the reason why your businesses have not run bankrupt because of our money that invest in you daily by buying your products like data among others. What is going to happen to the data that we have bought and never used because of the internet shutdown? Will we still have them when the internet opens?
Election updates are important
With the internet television stations can easily stream the election updates all over the country but we were deprived of this information because of the shutdown. We could not see what is taking place around the country live on TVs and this makes me question the motive behind the internet shutdown. What is the government hiding and didn’t want people to see?
I don’t want to write too much or say too much but as you can see, there is everything wrong with internet shut down because of the elections. As a blogger, digital marketing manager and influencer, my livelihood depends on the internet. This shut down has made me lose a lot and I think the government did a wrong move to shut us down because of elections.
