Uhuru, First Lady to be blocked from using Facebook in Uganda
President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta will be among millions of people in Uganda who will be denied access to social media on Thursday.
The President and First Lady will on Thursday join other African leaders in Kampala to witness the swearing in of President Yoweri Museveni at the Kololo Independence Grounds.
President Museveni has ordered all service providers to shut down access to social media during his swearing-in ceremony.
One of the service providers, MTN Uganda, has confirmed as much in a message posted on its social media pages on Wednesday evening.
“MTN Uganda wishes to inform its esteemed customers that in line with the requirement of its license specifically article 7.4 that requires MTN to provide assistance to government in the event of an emergency or crisis related to National Security, the Uganda Communications Commission has issued a directive to shut down all social media platforms immediately until otherwise advised by government. The UCC and other competent government agencies will provide further clarity on the reasons for this directive.”
This is the second time in as three months the Uganda Government is ordering service providers to shutdown social media services.
The first was during the general elections held on February 18, a shutdown which lasted more than 12 hours and was condemned by human rights groups and the United States Government.