Kyambogo’s first female guild boss
May 26, 2009
TO an outsider, Charity Byarugaba is an ordinary lady. But to her fellow students at Kyambogo University, she is an icon for becoming the first female guild president at the nine-year-old institution.<br>With a university that is always in the news over
By Mathias Safari
TO an outsider, Charity Byarugaba is an ordinary lady. But to her fellow students at Kyambogo University, she is an icon for becoming the first female guild president at the nine-year-old institution.
With a university that is always in the news over administrative woes, the student community is looking up to her to make a difference.
They hope that, unlike her predecessors, Byarugaba will lobby for improved infrastructure and save them from delayed completion of the syllabus caused by frequent lecturers’ strikes.
Whether or not she will deliver to their expectations is another matter.
What is for sure, though, is that the 22-year-old exudes a sense of simplicity and commitment.
Her reign is far from the politics of hype and class. She did not have money to print campaign posters. Her classmates volunteered to print a handful, which they pasted strategically at the main gate and main building.
Her campaign team had no budget and, while her opponents splashed millions of shillings on logistics, Byarugaba was laid back; she did not spend a single cent in the course of the race.
During the campaigns, her critics wondered how an orphan from Kanungu hoped to get to the ‘highest’ office in the university. And that was not their only grudge against her.
Byarugaba had just pioneered the establishment of Dr. Abed Bwanika’s People’s Development Party at the campus and they questioned the wisdom of standing on a minority ticket.
The odds were staked against her, but her hands-on approach carried the day.
“Politics is not always a dirty game and I won because I had a bigger vision for the university,†Byarugaba says. “Those endorsed by the bigger parties like FDC and NRM were armed with bags of money yet I was armed with bags of ideas. It was a question of truth-versus-falsehood.â€
Byarugaba’s campaign manager, Joseph Senyonga explains: “At first we were a bit scared but we later relaxed on realising that our opponents had grown frustrated by our might. They resorted to campaigning room to room, and that is when we picked momentum. FDC sent their boss Kizza Besigye and Mugisha Muntu, NRM sent Capt. Mike Mukula and other seasoned politicians. But not even the DP fire brands like Elias Lukwago and Mbidde Mukasa could scare us.â€
Byarugaba says she believes God will sort out the bickering factions at the campus. She will do her best to implement a clear-cut programme, she says, and leave the rest to God.
Indeed her campaign trail was full of such religious nuances, but those who knew her did not doubt her conviction. Her life is one big testimony against the odds.
Byarugaba’ parents died when she was a toddler and going to school was a struggle until Rev. Kefa Sempangi, the former Ntenjeru South MP took her into his orphanage. One of her classmates at the faculty of arts and social sciences, Brian Isabirye, remarks:
“I have known Charity since high school and I have never seen a more focused girl. She is short and petite, but that is besides the point.â€
FACTFILE
Born on September 27, 1987 at Kambuga Hospital to a peasant family in Kanungu . Moves to foster parents’ home in Mukono. 1993-1999: Attends Rukumak, a primary school that was ran by African Foundation, a charitable trust. 2000-2004: Attends Kalinabiri SS in Kampala, becomes the sanitation prefect. 2005-2007: Kyambogo College School, religious prefect.
2007: Joins Kyambogo University for a bachelors degree in economics
l2009: Wins the guild presidency.
TO an outsider, Charity Byarugaba is an ordinary lady. But to her fellow students at Kyambogo University, she is an icon for becoming the first female guild president at the nine-year-old institution.
With a university that is always in the news over administrative woes, the student community is looking up to her to make a difference.
They hope that, unlike her predecessors, Byarugaba will lobby for improved infrastructure and save them from delayed completion of the syllabus caused by frequent lecturers’ strikes.
Whether or not she will deliver to their expectations is another matter.
What is for sure, though, is that the 22-year-old exudes a sense of simplicity and commitment.
Her reign is far from the politics of hype and class. She did not have money to print campaign posters. Her classmates volunteered to print a handful, which they pasted strategically at the main gate and main building.
Her campaign team had no budget and, while her opponents splashed millions of shillings on logistics, Byarugaba was laid back; she did not spend a single cent in the course of the race.
During the campaigns, her critics wondered how an orphan from Kanungu hoped to get to the ‘highest’ office in the university. And that was not their only grudge against her.
Byarugaba had just pioneered the establishment of Dr. Abed Bwanika’s People’s Development Party at the campus and they questioned the wisdom of standing on a minority ticket.
The odds were staked against her, but her hands-on approach carried the day.
“Politics is not always a dirty game and I won because I had a bigger vision for the university,†Byarugaba says. “Those endorsed by the bigger parties like FDC and NRM were armed with bags of money yet I was armed with bags of ideas. It was a question of truth-versus-falsehood.â€
Byarugaba’s campaign manager, Joseph Senyonga explains: “At first we were a bit scared but we later relaxed on realising that our opponents had grown frustrated by our might. They resorted to campaigning room to room, and that is when we picked momentum. FDC sent their boss Kizza Besigye and Mugisha Muntu, NRM sent Capt. Mike Mukula and other seasoned politicians. But not even the DP fire brands like Elias Lukwago and Mbidde Mukasa could scare us.â€
Byarugaba says she believes God will sort out the bickering factions at the campus. She will do her best to implement a clear-cut programme, she says, and leave the rest to God.
Indeed her campaign trail was full of such religious nuances, but those who knew her did not doubt her conviction. Her life is one big testimony against the odds.
Byarugaba’ parents died when she was a toddler and going to school was a struggle until Rev. Kefa Sempangi, the former Ntenjeru South MP took her into his orphanage. One of her classmates at the faculty of arts and social sciences, Brian Isabirye, remarks:
“I have known Charity since high school and I have never seen a more focused girl. She is short and petite, but that is besides the point.â€
FACTFILE