By Eriah Lule
The Chief Justice of Uganda Christian University (UCU) 24th Guild Tribunal, Lady Justus Babirye Rehma, led her team of six members and paid a courtesy visit to Tumukunde and Company Advocates, the Alumni Association Speaker’s Law firm, to inquire on how best they could handle the students’ affairs at hand.
With such a reputation, the 24th Guild tribunal sought advice from the 2013 Guild Speaker.
According to Tony Tumukunde, he was overprivileged when the tribunal contacted him and wanted to have a one-on-one with him. “My name had appeared in the Guild tribunal a lot of times due to my reputation as a student lawyer.” He said, “We discussed various matters concerning how best they could handle students’ affairs and the legal field they are heading to.”
The Chief Justice led a team of two judges, two commissioners and a clerk to the Tribunal.
Sinadada Arnold, a third-year law student and a clerk to the Tribunal, says that the Tribunal intends to pay for such visits to different alumni as a strategy to lobby more funds for the Guild fund (money that is topped up for financially disadvantaged students).
“We thought it prudent to seek knowledge from our seniors, and as we mean while lobbying for our fellow students, that’s what leadership requires,” he said, adding, “We intend to make as many visits as we can as the Tribunal and Guild to learn and lobby for our students.”
Askada Julian, a second-year Bachelor of International Relations and Governance, says that with such strategies, the Guild is uplifting the spirit of servanthood as one of the university’s core values. “I am so happy that our leaders go out to lobby for us; it really shows one sacrifice towards the other,” she added.
It’s always heartwarming to receive students from our mother seeking to lobby for others. It also paints a picture back then when our leaders did the same, so when they come, we push for whatever we have, said Joshua Chebet, an alumnus who refused to disclose his place of work.