By Timothy Okurut
When Samantha Mwesigye took over power and became the 27th Guild President of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Guild Government, she laid out a four-point manifesto targeting accountability, student life, tuition, and security.
Under tuition, she promised to introduce a Presidential scholarship fund, arguing that the Guild fund was low. Her target was to provide a more substantial amount of money to students with greater need. However, according to a source close to the government, the fund only realised one beneficiary.
One of the key nuggets Mwesigye’s manifesto had highlighted for security was to install lights on dark spots along hostel routes. However, there’s nothing tangible to suggest that this was achieved.
With respect to accountability, the Executive failed to table reports during the Guild General Assembly and turned down engagements on platforms like the Launchpad debate and on UCU Focus TV. That notwithstanding, they organized some activities that witnessed a high student turnout including the Fresher’s ball in the Trinity semester and the cultural gala in the Advent.
Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission (EC), led by Aggrey Kwajje Asunta held two elections, one in the Easter semester and the other in the Advent semester. The elections were largely successful, with the December elections seeing a record 4,067 votes cast at the presidential level.
Asunta acknowledges that the EC faced challenges, including limited time for civic education, which affected the petition process. “Maybe the EC didn’t have enough time to sensitise the community on how to petition and who you petition,” she says.
She also highlights disunity in the government as a major challenge. Despite this, she notes that the EC’s plan included ideas to address these issues, but execution was difficult due to budget constraints.
Tribunal
Justice Catherine Atim, the Chief Justice of the Tribunal said her team ensured due process and promoted collaborative leadership. “We worked hand in hand with the Tribunal of Kampala Campus, and I believe this was an achievement.”
She echoed Asunta’s concerns about disunity, saying it hindered the Tribunal’s work. She also highlighted incomplete initiatives, such as digitising records and organising the Justice Week, due to budget constraints.
Citing some challenges, talked about a case that came in the aftermath of the Sports Gala where the Attorney General, Klaus Ssekito, took the Sports Minister, Hon. Job Mulenzimuto to the Tribunal claiming he misappropriated funds. She says the Executive wanted the Tribunal to come up with an outcome which they failed to find. “We operate on evidence, and the Attorney General being the person who was representing the government in the case failed to satisfy the bench and prove that the Sports Minister was guilty.”
Atim believes that this case set the stage for division between the Executive and the Judiciary.
Legislature
According to the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Joseph Michael Tenywa, Parliament was on track to achieve its mandate, but its power was undermined by the Executive. Questions were raised in the early days of the 27th Guild’s tenure after a budget document was widely circulated with the approval of the university administration, but not the Speaker’s signature indicating that the document wasn’t passed by Parliament.
Tenywa said Parliament did due diligence in passing a budget, but the President declined to assent to it. According to Tenywa, the President asked Parliament to make some changes, including funding the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG), one that’s not provided for by the Guild Constitution.
“The President was not willing to follow the established procedure, but also the number of seven people to be appointed as IGGs, when Parliament holds an accounting role doesn’t add up,” he said. The Speaker declined to the recommendations from the Executive citing first, the need to uphold constitutionalism, and secondly, that with limited funds available, creating more offices would be financially overbearing.
Those challenges notwithstanding, Tenywa says his team kept the integrity of Parliament. They also undertook a constitutional review process. He also celebrated the success of the Guild General Assembly, one that was graced by the National Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama. He also pointed to disunity as a factor that affected them. “We had the most divided government, with my experience at UCU,” Tenywa said. “For the whole year in leadership, I did not at any one point have a meeting with the President, even when I pushed for it,” he added.
Students speak out
According to Patience Bahati, the Speaker of the Launchpad debate club and the Finance Secretary of the Law Society, the 27th Guild Government did averagely well based on the factors surrounding them. She suggests that the leaders should have established a stronger relationship with the administration and the different arms should have operated independently to create a better legacy.
She said this pointing to the assertions of the Speaker, Tenywa who complained about interference from the Executive. “They needed to have the authority to do what they needed to do without having influence from another arm.” She further applauded the EC for organizing successful elections having acknowledged the leadership of Asunta. “I like the resilience in Asunta, she was befitting of that position,” Bahati says.
