Makerere University Vice chancellor suspends guild elections

Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe on Wednesday suspended the forthcoming guild election due to the ongoing strike by the university staff.

Prof Nawangwe has confirmed that he has decided to suspend the elections to provide a conducive environment to facilitate the process of returning the university to full normalcy.

He said that the elections cannot continue since all students have not returned to the university due to the ongoing strike by both the teaching and non-teaching staff.

“Reference is made to the communication by the guild speaker regarding extension of student’s guild election. Accordingly, I hereby suspend the student’s guild elections to provide a conducive environment to facilitate the process of returning the university to normalcy,” part of Prof Nawangwe’s letter to the Dean of Students reads.

He said the management will first assess the situation before fixing another date for the election, adding that he is optimistic that business would have returned to normal by Monday next week.

Guild election at Makerere University always take place in March after a full month of campaigns.

When contacted, the Guild Speaker Isaac Kwagala confirmed that the decision by Prof Nawangwe was reached at his request.
He said that the guild constitution permits it, noting that the new election program will be communicated when all students report back.

The efforts to reach the Dean of Students and the University Electoral Commission was futile as none of them picked our repeated calls. The source told this reporter that these were busy preparing the election road map.