KAMPALA: Makerere University’s outgoing Guild President has contested the decision by the University Council to suspend Guild Leadership activities at the university.
Following the chaotic guild campaigns that resulted in the death of one student from Uganda Christian University, Bewotti Batungura, the university council held a crisis meeting today to address student indiscipline and violence at the university.
After the meeting, the council resolved to suspend the student guild, terminate the electoral process of the 88th guild leadership, suspend all activities of the senior common room, caretaker government, guild leadership structures, including brigades, and other unauthorised groups at the university.
The Council further set up a six-member committee to review all operations of the students’ leadership before a final decision is made.
“The select committee will evaluate the internal processes of conducting guild elections and investigate the conduct of hall wardens and custodians in the enforcement of university regulations regarding management of students’ halls of residence,” Council chairperson Magara said.
However, the outgoing Guild President, Shamim Nambasa, was not pleased with the development, claiming that the decision was intended to exclude students from decision-making in university affairs because they were not represented on the university council.
She further states that when students are not represented, it is most likely for the university council to make decisions that will not be fair to students. She briefly stated, “We must go back to the drawing board and look for clear solutions to address this rather than suspend the leadership of the students.”
The Makerere University Council is the supreme organ responsible for fulfilling the overall administrative objectives and functions of the university. It is comprised of 25 members representing various areas, and among the 25 members, students are supposed to have two representatives.
Speaking to URN, the University Secretary, Yusuf Kiranda, said the council rushed to take action to avoid any other harmful actions, adding that the guild leadership and the election process were the root causes of the chaos. Therefore, the council had limited time to consult the students.
Although the committee resolved that going forward, they have banned all future physical guild elections at the university, Kiranda notes that the committee will engage several students to listen to their views before making the final decision.