Law student wins Makerere guild race

By Innocent Anguyo, Cissy Namugerwa & Denis Onyango

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY - Ivan Bwowe, an independent candidate, and a student of Law, was Wednesday declared as the winner of the Makerere University Students’ Guild presidential polls that saw record turnout.

Final results announced by Michael Byemero, the Makerere University Students’ Electoral Commission Chairperson (EC) gave Bwowe a landslide victory of over 60%.

After garnering 6,943 votes out of the 10,737 total ballots cast, Bwowe becomes the 80th president of the Makerere University students’ guild.

The guild president is the head of the students’ guild which is the students’ supreme decision-making body charged with the responsibility of ensuring seamless relationship between the university administration and the students.

The guild president serves for a one year non-renewable term in office.

Election of Guild Representatives to Council (GRCs) will follow the guild presidential elections. 

Adeke Anna Ebaju of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is the current guild president, having taken over from Ivan Kata of (Uganda Young Democrats-UYD).

Bwowe’s victory makes him the first independent candidate ever to win a Makerere guild presidential race since the establishment of multiparty political dispensation in Uganda.

He Law student is a volunteer at the Uganda Rural Fund, a non-governmental organization working to improve education in rural Uganda.

The Makerere University Students’ Electoral Commission shortlisted eight candidates out of 13 to run for the university’s Students’ Guild President.

The other candidates were Sarah Aseru (UYD), Lillian Aber (FDC), Phillip Musiime (National Resistance Movement), Eddy Kintu, Nicholas Nanyeenya, Samuel Komakech and Julius Tabaaro. Bwowe had earlier lost to Aseru in the primaries for UYD ticket.

Aseru (1,376) trailed Bwowe followed by Musiime (972), Aber (901), Nanyeenya (421), Komakech (57), Tabaaro (36) and Kintu (29).

Makerere University Police boss Jackson Mucunguzi described this year’s Makerere students’ guild presidential elections as “peaceful”.

Police deployed hundreds of officers to maintain order at the university after intelligence revealed that some groups of students were bent on disrupting the polls.