Makerere University guild election nullified

KAMPALA - Makerere University's newly-elected guild president Bazil Biddemu Mwotta's win has been annulled after his close rival Roy Ssemboga filed a petition, citing irregularities in the electoral process.

Ssemboga, who emerged second in an 11-strong race, was seeking a rerun at the institution's School of Education, where he gathered 64 votes compared to Mwotta's 1,700.

In his petition, Ssemboga claimed that there was no way 1,700 people could have voted in a space of eight hours and thus called upon the election tribunal for a recount.

Seven days after the election, the tribunal that sat on Monday evening discovered that there were some anomalies in the electoral process in the School of Education, and ruled that voting in the school be repeated.

In a press release received by New Vision on Tuesday, Rita Namisango, the university's spokesperson, called upon students at School of Education to prepare for re-election this week.

The decision was however not received positively by a section of the students, who were up in arms against it.

Nonetheless, Namisango asked them to avoid taking part in demonstrations as they prepare for the voting day this week to re-cast their ballot for their prepared candidates.

"Mandated offices or organs have been tasked to enforce the directive of the Guild Election Petition Tribunal," she said.

When contacted, Ian Ndamwesiga, the spokesperson for the Makerere Guild Electoral commission said the re-election at the School of Education has been slated for Wednesday (today), starting 8am to 5pm.

This means Makerere University's new guild president will be announced after the re-election.



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