In this interview, candidate Abraham Elomaboni shares his aspirations, goals, and reasons he joined the race to become Guild President
By Sulphine Mbambu Bonabana
Who is Abraham?
My name is Elomaboni Abraham. I am pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LLB) currently in my third year. I am a Musoga by tribe though my name has an Itesot background. I am a last born out of four children. I went to Mbale Secondary School for my O-Level then Bugwere High School for my A-Level. I am a Born-again Anglican. I used to do boxing as a sport up to my A-Level but currently the sport I am into is swimming.
What has inspired you to take part in the Guild race?
It has always been my vision to see that the purpose of student leadership is fulfilled.
What is your leadership style?
My leadership style is a combination of two approaches; the transformational where by at the end of the day we have to transform our society to develop our standards of living. The second one is democracy where everyone should be considered when making decisions.
Who inspires you as a leader and why?
I am inspired by King David from the Old Testament in the Bible. He had complete faith and trust in God.
You were initially removed from the race because you failed to prove that you are Anglican yet it is a condition for one to contest as Guild President. What has changed now that you are back in the race?
I do not know the clear reasons up to now but it is claimed that I did not have conclusive evidence that I was baptised and confirmed in the Anglican Church. I had not carried along my confirmation card and I think the vetting board rushed to release the list, they would have called me to bring my evidence of confirmation before releasing the list. So I later on provided the evidence.
In the previous elections there were allegations of not following guidelines by one of the candidates. How are you going to ensure to follow the guidelines?
They were not allegations. I was actually in the camp of Samantha but one of the reasons I withdrew from the camp was the continuous violation of the guidelines. It did not make any sense to me, being part of a camp of law students violating regulations. As for my Team, I am educating them about the guidelines so that they can be followed rightfully.
What are three key things you want to do in your term of office and why?
I am looking at solving social problems through having additional skills projects, implemented through faculty projects and societies, as well as the Class Representative Association which will administer entrepreneurial, vocational and technical skills to students as a way to fight tuition challenges.
Through inclusivity and collective development, I want to capitalise on the event/ activities that have been happening by involving the different faculties to expose and exercise their skills.
Through student leaders I want us to report student issues to the level of being represented to the senate level. At the end of the day, we are taking back a report to the university, representing our students and it is impactful in a way that it will influence the decisions that shall be taken over any other policy.
What is your comment on the previous terms, and what are you going to do differently?
I came in the evening of the 25th Guild Government under the leadership of Timothy Ddumba and I am rating this government with 8/10, the 26th Guild Government under the leadership of Ajira Birugi 7/10 and the current Guild Government under the leadership of Samantha Mwesigwe, 7/10. The 2 and 3 percent is because of the failure to connect the Executive and the Parliament. All resources and authority rotaes around the Guild President yet the Members of Parliament (MPs) as they campaign also come with manifestos and ideas. If the connection is not there, the MPs term will end without them doing anything for their people who later on see them as incompetent. What I am going to do differently is ensure a team work spirit to work together.
What challenges have you faced so far and how have you overcome them
My biggest challenge is the bad behavior from the opponents camp. They are attacking my supporters especially from Law school year one and year two. I also got back on the ballot late so reconstructing and re-collecting finances has not been easy.
What bright things have happened during the vetting and campaign process that you’re grateful for?
The MPs are many and the participation is high especially from Law School and I am encouraging other faculties to take up positions for us to develop as a whole.
The Electoral Commission has been transparent and has really played their role smoothly.
