Mobile Money has practically been the lifeblood of everyday Ugandan people since its inception. With trillions of Uganda shillings transacted through Mobile Money annually, the recent decision by Uganda Communications Commission to block the service during the Uganda Elections was met with outrage and disbelief. The question that has been on everybody’s lips is what correlation Mobile Money has with the excuse given by the UCC for blocking the service – a security precaution.
The good news is that it appears that restrictions on the usage of Mobile Money and the popular WhatsApp messenger have been lifted for now if barely. We can confirm that MTN Mobile Money is back on while Airtel Money seems to be off. This happened soon after the announcement of the final presidential results. We are as yet unsure of the limitations of the Mobile Money platform but everything should be back to normal ASAP. Do check out this awesome write up on Mobile Money rates across networks in Uganda.
Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda meanwhile assured fellow Ugandans that Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Mobile Money will be unblocked by Monday 22nd February 2016 much as we are already witnessing the easing of the said restrictions. It remains to be seen as to the effectiveness of blocking the social media sites. Uncanny Ugandans quickly found ways to circumvent these obstacles. The fact that #UgandaDecides has been trending on Twitter for days now is proof of this.
Image: Acumen
