The Independent Magazine website briefly went offline due to a delay in renewing its domain name registration. On Tuesday morning, a check on Uganda’s domain registry at whois.co.ug revealed that the website was inaccessible.
A follow-up check at mid-day confirmed that the website’s registration had been renewed and extended until October 3, 2024. However, the website’s content was still unavailable.
The domain, independent.co.ug, has been active since it was registered on October 2, 2007, and the renewal date was set for October 3, 2023.
The registrant information for the domain indicates that it is owned by David Hamya, affiliated with Independent Publications Ltd, located in Kampala, Uganda.
It’s worth noting that it is unusual for a prominent news website in the country, especially one founded by the respected global journalist Andrew Mwenda in 2007, to go offline temporarily due to a seemingly minor issue like domain name renewal.
In Uganda, renewing a domain name with the country-level domain .co.ug typically costs only 120,000 shillings per year through Computer Frontiers International.
