Preparations for Makerere virtual guild elections underway
Makerere University guild presidential candidate for National Unity Platform (NUP) Lawrence Alionzi being carried by one of his supporters during campaigns in July 2022. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- In an October 19 letter, Mr Samuel Mugabi—the director of the Directorate for ICT Support (Dicts)—said “all colleges and schools registrars will dedicate time towards addressing all presented issues regarding student bio data clean-up.”
- The university has previously staged two virtual guild elections on in 2020 and 2021.
Plans to conduct the 88th guild elections at Makerere University have been set in motion after the stabbing to death of one student resulted in the suspension of political campaigns at the institution in July.
The electioneering process, which will be entirely remote, shall start after an intensive bio data clean-up exercise, which runs from October 24 to November 7.
In an October 19 letter, Mr Samuel Mugabi—the director of the Directorate for ICT Support (Dicts)—said “all colleges and schools registrars will dedicate time towards addressing all presented issues regarding student bio data clean-up.”
He added: “In addition to visiting registrars, college ICT personnel will support students to update their contact bio data, including emails and telephone contacts. This is because an eligible voter must have a Makerere University student email address and up to date mobile phone contact on ACMIS in order to cast their electronic votes.”
The university has previously staged two virtual guild elections on in 2020 and 2021. While those virtual elections were occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, the forthcoming one is squarely down to the death of Micheal Betungura Bewatte, an erstwhile Second Year student at Uganda Christian University, who had come to show support for his friend, the Forum for Democratic Change flag bearer—Justus Tukamushaba.
In the aftermath of Bewatte’s death, the university’s top organ banned physical guild elections at the ivory tower.
Students have, however, shown a reluctance to warm up to virtual elections post-pandemic, claiming the process facilitates rigging of votes, among others.
“I was part of the process by that time [previous virtual polls], but the elections had cases of rigging where students could find their portals voted for by others,” Mr Patrick Tumwesigye, a student from the School of Agriculture, told Saturday Monitor, adding, “The network was also breaking whereby it could not allow most students to vote within a specified time.”
Other students, including Ms Sarah Luwedde from the College of Education expressed support for online voting, saying it carries less risks of commotion and violence associated with physical elections.
