'It's like a road closure' - Uganda's president on shutting the internet as his country votes

'It's like a road closure' - Uganda's president on shutting the internet as his country votes Yoweri Museveni, 81, tells Sky News why he wants five more years as leader and defends the targeting of electoral opponent Bobi Wine. Image:Museveni supporters Image:Supporters of the president Image:Bobi Wine is popular among younger voters Image:Sky's Yousra Elbagir speaks to President Museveni Image:Opposition supporters have decried the internet shutdown Thursday 15 January 2026 10:20, UK A church service at Nakasero State House marks the end of a frenetic election cycle. The congregation sings "Guide Me Oh Thou Great Redeemer" as they wait for the arrival of their long-time leader and one of the longest-serving in Africa, President Yoweri Museveni. A nation-wide internet shutdown has turned Kampala into a muted capital, and the oasis of the State House compound feels even more hushed and isolated above the traffic. A period of intense political campaigning has been marred by the mass arrests of activists and opposition supporters is now ending in the suspension of nine local human rights organisations and an enforced digital silence. "We are the ones who built the internet. The shutting down is about dealing with criminals who want to use that infrastructure to destabilise our country," President Museveni tells me in the manicured gardens of State Lodge behind the Chapel. "It is temporary, short term - but we are the ones who built it. " Does building it mean you can shut it down? "No, it's like a road closure." We travelled to Kampala to speak to the 81-year-old President as Ugandans cast their ballots in what will be his seventh successive election. He is seeking to add another five years to his four decades in power. In 2005, Uganda's parliament passed a controversial constitutional amendment to lift the two term limit and the age limit of 75 was lifted in 2018. "If I am available - not dead, not senile but I am still around - and I have some knowledge. If you are really serious about your country why would you not want to take advantage of me if I am still able?" he asks. This month marks forty years since President Museveni secured victory in the Bush War as a rebel leader in January 1986 and ascended to power. He was protesting the allegedly rigged election of former Prime Minister Milton Obote when he launched the five year battle for "fundamental change". Read more from Sky News: Is America surrendering Antarctica to its rivals?Iranian woman who fled Tehran describes killings Does his younger self connect with the need for change that many young people in Uganda are expressing? "I was actually dying to work with old people because we needed them, unless you are not serious. These problems are big problems and if you are with a big problem, the more hands the better," says the President. "I was working with [Julius] Nyerere of Tanzania and with Mandela. They were older people but we needed them. I couldn't...

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