Violence rears its ugly head at Makerere

Makerere University top brass has described as unacceptable an incident that placed one of its students in a hospital bed following a scuffle on Wednesday night.

Mr Robert Sserunjogi, a second-year student from College of Natural Sciences (Conas), was reported to be in a critical condition after being waylaid by unidentified people while on the campaign trail at Mitchell Hall.

“All electoral processes must be in line with the road map provided by the students’ guild electoral commission,” Ms Winifred Kabumbuli, the dean of students, wrote in an April 6 letter.

“Those found to be in violation of the university regulations will face disciplinary action, including disqualification from the guild race.”

According to eyewitness accounts, Mr Sserunjogi found himself caught in the crosshairs after the camps of National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Margaret Nattabi and Mr Sula Namwoza—an independent candidate—locked horns. There is no love lost between the two camps after Ms Nattabi marginally beat Mr Namwoza to NUP flag.  The two aspirants have been disqualified over the incident.

The university’s 89th guild election is slated for April 14, and will be held virtually. The candidates who will appear on the ballot include Mr Sabiiti Akankunda, Mr Julius Birigwa, Mr Robert Maseruka, Ms Baraka Nkoyooyo, Mr Hillary Oremo Odwee, Mr Mark Ssebunya, Mr Andrew Lubinga and Mr Emmanuel Wanyama.

In her April 6 letter, Ms Kabumbuli urged all candidates to “prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our students during this electoral process.”

She added: “Let us work together to ensure a peaceful and successful election.”
Mr Odwee, a third year Journalism and Communication student, asked his fellow candidates to pursue “a peaceful process with intellectualism.” He also took a swipe at the NUP-leaning candidates, saying “if you fail to sort out your internal party differences, how can we trust you with the whole Makerere University students’ affairs?” 

Last year, a scuffle between NUP and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party supporters at the height of electioneering resulted in the death of a student. Betungura Bewatte, a student of

Law from Uganda Christian University, Kampala Campus, was fatally wounded during a standoff.
After that tragic incident, Makerere University brought in a new students’ guild statute that outlawed physical elections. It also barred candidates from openly identifying with political parties as this was said to foment chaos at the ivory tower.

On April 3, a student petitioned the dean of students. Mr Joseph Kateregga wants all candidates in the 89th guild race who have affiliated with national political parties to be disqualified. In his petition, Mr Kateregga claims that most of the guild candidates in the race went through national party primaries and were endorsed by party leaders. This, he added, is against article (6) 6.2 of the new Makerere University guild statute 2022.

Mr Levi Tshilumba, the chairperson of the electoral commission at Uganda’s oldest university, told Saturday Monitor that candidates who are not erring on the side of caution risk being disqualified.

Mr Samson Omar, the chief security officer at Makerere University, said events that ended with Mr Sserunjogi being injured were unfortunate. He said a group of students had gone for a meeting known in the university’s parlance as kimeza. Mr Sserunjogi was lifting one of the guild presidential candidates shoulder-high when a scuffle ensued.

“We are looking for them and they shall be brought to book,” Mr Omara said of the students who precipitated the scuffle.

Mr Lawrence Alionzi (NUP) is the outgoing guild president at Uganda’s largest and oldest institution of higher learning.