The recent guild elections at Makerere University saw a candidate associated with the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) emerge as the winner. However, the victory of Vincent Lubega Nsamba is now under dispute.
The race was a close one, with Nsamba securing the win by a narrow margin of just four votes, totaling 2540 ballots.
Nsamba, a second-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was announced as the winner by Ramadhan Kirunda, the chairperson of the university’s Electoral Commission, last Thursday.
Edmond Ariho, Nsamba’s main competitor, was a close second with 2536 votes. Ariho has since challenged the election results and filed a petition with the Guild Elections Petition Tribunal.
In response to the dispute, the Dean of Students and Secretary of the Guild Elections Petition Tribunal, Winifred Kabumbuli, issued a letter to the university students and leadership. In the letter, she urged all students to remain calm while the petition is being processed.
Kabumbuli stated, “Mr. Edmond Ariho, a candidate in the 90th guild elections, has disputed the election outcome where Mr. Vincent Nsamba Lubega was declared the winner. He has filed a petition, dated March 10th, 2024, with the Guild Elections Petition Tribunal’s secretary. I appeal to the student community and all stakeholders to maintain calm as the petition is being processed.”
The 90th Guild seat at Makerere University saw a total of 16 candidates vying for the position. Kasekende Fulungensio and Wandukwa Simon secured the third and fourth runner-up positions with 1674 and 1039 votes respectively.