Many Ugandans are desperate for change but now it seems nothing will shift Museveni | Patience Akumu

The president shut down' the internet as he won the election. You don't stay in power for 40 years by taking risks

Days before Uganda's presidential election - voting took place last Thursday - the incumbent, 76-year-old Yoweri Museveni, ordered that social media be switched off. People found their way around that by using virtual private networks, bouncing back online with memes mocking the idea that anyone would think it possible to bar people from being on social media in this day and age. Then, the evening before elections, the internet in Uganda was totally shut down.

The election that saw Museveni win with nearly 60% was shrouded in darkness. It is strange to move from social media's infinite flow of information to nothingness. Instead, just silence apart from the news the government wants you to hear. Media houses that dare not to toe the government's straight line risk being stopped from covering elections or even shut down.