By Timothy Okurut
Very soon our university will be witnessing a Guild leadership handover. When it happens, it will be the 27th function of its kind. I have been serving with the outgoing team as MP School of Journalism, and Minister of Information. As such, I have the burden to share a few notes with the 27th Guild leadership to help them serve the university better. I seek to give this advice because I, my colleagues, and those who served before us hold a unique position since we have completed the same journey you are about to begin. We have knowledge to share both from the things we did right and from the mistakes we made.
So here is the advice.
Availability: Woody Allen says 90% of leadership is showing up. He is right. To succeed in this course, you must be available. However qualified you might be for your task, you can’t accomplish anything unless you show up. Your CV is not going to get the job done, that was needed during the nominations and campaigns. A qualified doctor who doesn’t show up at the hospital can’t save lives. Live the call. Walk the talk. If you need extra motivation to be available for something you’ve signed up for, then you need to rethink your position.
Accountability: One of the challenges we face as leaders in this space is that the electorate is short of trust in us, and genuinely so because they’ve been cheated many times. But you can restore their trust in you, simply through transparency. I can proudly say that once I got the position, the 26th Guild Parliament was the first to open access to the media for plenary sittings. Even heated discussions, such as the issue of accountability of the Guild run were open. We opened up ourselves to be scrutinised and despite the negative publicity we got for a period, I’m walking out of office with a free heart.
Keep the bar high: Politics and relationships just don’t mix. Well, people mix them but they shouldn’t be. The President and MPs are the only elected leaders in the Guild. Everyone else finds their way through an appointment by the President with the approval of Parliament, which to be honest is tricky. While the Constitution states that the Vice Presidential nominee needs to have the same qualifications as the President it is hard to establish if they have the grit because they have not been through the rigorous process the President has. So put yourself in the President’s shoes, who would you appoint? The right hand person in the campaign? The one who gave the highest contribution during rallies? Your partner? Truthfully, any of us might be tempted to make such decisions. The initial appointee for Vice President of the 26th Guild couldn’t even mention any club, association or society in the university, yet we have more than 20 registered clubs and societies. We did vet him out and our good Vice President H.E Richard Miiro was fronted to us.
As you sit in Parliament, be reminded that you’re a representation of your constituents in Parliament. As you make decisions, do what you believe they would have collectively done if the stakes allowed. Your constitutional role is representation, legislation and oversight, not guarding relationships and making friends.
Finally, to the electorate. I would like you to keep your expectations of the Guild reasonable. Some candidates could have promised heaven on earth. That was for the campaign. The truth is, guild governments are not autonomous. We can’t give the Guild fund to everyone in the amounts they expect. Neither can we rewrite the tuition policy or switch the fees deadlines. In as far as some of these are concerned we play an advocacy role. So instead of criticising the very leaders you’ve voted for, come alongside them in finding solutions to the problems we are facing.
Good luck to you all!
Timothy Okurut is the outgoing MP for School of Journalism and Minister of Information of the 26th Guild.
