The Minister of State for ICT and National Guidance, Godfrey Kabbyanga, has called on multinationals operating in the country to obey the country’s laws or risk sanctions.

He said while the government is desirous to attract more investment into the country, it has no plan to allow its laws to be desecrated.

He made the revelation while speaking during the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and global payment solution company MasterCard at the ministry’s headquarters in Kampala on Tuesday.

“Some people are complaining you are shutting down Facebook, but what they have to know is that we can shut down anything so long as you are not working within our norms,” he said.

Facebook has not operated in Uganda since January 2021 over a dispute with the government. In 2021, the President noted that Facebook was guilty of blocking government officials and NRM supporters.

As a result, many people have since resorted to Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to go about the problem.

Speaking at the event, the minister said all countries have norms and these norms ought to be respected regardless of how small or big those countries are.  

“Our only request to you (multinationals) is to follow our legal framework,” he said.   

Kabbyanga commended MasterCard for growing its portfolio in Uganda, adding: “I love your commitment and I would like to assure you that we are committed to this agreement and we are going to offer all the assistance that you need.” 

He told Victor Ndlovu, the MasterCard head of business development for East Africa that President Yoweri Museveni has a unique passion for ICT.

He added that the ministry has put in place the right legal framework which can help MasterCard and more technology players to invest in the country for as long as they respect the country's laws.

The partnership with Mastercard will make it possible to leverage existing technologies to create demand for ICT solutions by the public, according to the ICT ministry.

Dr Aminah Zawedde, the permanent secretary in the ICT ministry said there is currently a lot of demand for ICT solution services and that the government is looking for partners to develop the platforms.  

For example, she said while Uganda had 1,900 delegates over the just concluded NAM and G77+ China summits, and while these delegates were doing a lot, including buying products and consuming services, the country was unable to track what they transacted about.  

“With improved digital platforms we can be able to monitor and get information of who is doing what and where,” he said. She said this can help the government in planning and also in creating employment opportunities for people in the service industry.

She added that having knowledge of such information can also help generate revenue through taxation as it helps to know which sectors are making money.

“As we grow Uganda into a digitally transformed country, we need to take as many services online as possible. We want, going forward, that you will be able to pay without cash,” he said.

She said the partnership with Master Card will help create financial digital platforms so that more Ugandans will be able to embrace the cashless technology in their day-to-day transactions.

During the event, Ndlovu signed for MasterCard while Zawedde signed on behalf of the ministry.