Inside Makerere’s purge of political party activities 

Makerere University is in the eye of the storm again for disqualifying two guild president aspirants for allegedly engaging in physical campaigns contrary to the rules governing these elections.

The victims are National Unity Platform flagbearer Margaret Nattabi and independent candidate Sulaiman Namwoza. The two are accused of holding an illegal physical debate at Mitchell hall. The suspension is the latest among the many highhanded decisions of the university, led by Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the vice chancellor.

Ever since his election almost six years ago as vice chancellor, Nawangwe has implemented a near-military order in the university, suspending staff and students who engage in any form of resistance against any university policy. Makerere, which had come to be known as a university of demonstrations by either the students or staff, has been cowed since.

The demonstrations have fizzled out as leaders fear being victimized. To assert total control over the university, Nawangwe last year ordered students wishing to participate in any guild elections to steer clear of political parties.

After the restoration of political parties in 2005, Makerere University students have been organizing their guild elections based on political parties. For long, the Democratic Party youth wing, the Uganda Young Democrats, dominated the guild presidency, and this jinx was broken with the coming of the Forum for Democratic Change, and now the NUP.

In an April 6 letter, the Makerere University Guild Electoral Commission chairperson, Levi Tshilumba, said the two students were disqualified for violating Section 10(b) of the new students’ guild statute, 2022, and therefore couldn’t continue in the race.

Speaking to this newspaper, Margaret Nattabi, one of the two disqualified candidates, said the university’s purported justification for disqualifying her from the guild elections on the basis of her participation in an illegal debate is simply a pretext. Instead, she noted, the real reason for her exclusion was her affiliation with the NUP.

“All these are just excuses, but the major issue behind this is the National Unity Platform; they have tried for a long time to see that I leave this race. Even when we went on TV and I was putting on a red beret, they warned me; they told me I am partisan. Because I’m the official flag bearer of NUP, that’s what hurts them because they know I am going to win,” Nattabi said.

Her disqualification came just hours after the dean of Students, Winfred Kabumbuli, issued a warning to all aspirants who had organized physical campaign events in violation of the Makerere University Guild Statute. She emphasized that such candidates would face disciplinary measures, including disqualification from the guild race, for contravening university regulations.

After disqualifying the two students, Tshilumba released another letter dated April 7 asking all the remaining guild candidates to release videos distancing themselves from partisan politics.

NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine has condemned the university for taking such highhanded decisions, which he said contravene the students’ rights to association and academic freedom.

“This is an affront to the sacred concept of academic freedom and the constitutional rights to speech and association that any academic institution must guard with its very existence. Academic freedom requires that students be able to express themselves freely without fear of repression. Only then can institutions of higher learning achieve their purpose as guardians of reason and inquiry. It reinforces the protection our Constitution guarantees for any citizen to freely express their opinions and associate with any group of their choice,” Kyagulanyi said using his social media pages.

“It’s a shame that the university’s myopic leaders are now sacrificing at the altar of political expediency the very freedoms that secured them their current jobs in the first place. If they have any shame, they should reconsider the decision as it sets a terrible precedent,” he said.

Currently, there are only nine remaining candidates in the race, who include; Sabiiti Akankunda, Julius Birigwa, Robert Maseruka, Baraka Nkoyooyo and Oremo Odwee. Others are Mark Ssebunya, Andrew Lubinga, Evans Murungi and Emmanuel Wanyama.

Following the death of Uganda Christian University student Betungura Bewatte during a violent altercation between supporters of the FDC and NUP at Nsibirwa hall during the 2022 guild campaigns, the university drafted new regulations to govern future elections.

Section 6 [2] of the statute stipulates that, “The Makerere University Students Guild shall be non-partisan, non-denominational, and non-violent, and shall be open to all students of Maker- ere University without discrimination.”

The university explained then, that it wanted to foster an inclusive political environment that allows all students to contest for the guild leadership position without discrimination based on their political affiliations and that; political identities overshadow the fundamental identity of being a student.

Following the death of Bewatte, the University Council first terminated the then-ongoing electoral process and suspended the students’ caretaker government and guild leadership, and later appointed an ad-hoc committee to investigate the matter, which committee later recommended that the council approve the Makerere University Students Guild Statute subject to the amendments proposed by the council.

The statute also prohibited physical campaigns in Section 10(b). It stipulates that, “Student elections at the university shall be virtual unless otherwise determined by the University Council.”

The move effectively terminated the longstanding trend of political parties exerting a significant influence on the politics of the institution. During elections at Makerere, it had been a common occurrence for major political parties to endorse candidates and provide logistical support.

This is not unique to Makerere University, as it is prevalent in many other universities nationwide. In these institutions, it is common for candidates supported by political parties to display campaign posters with party colors and symbols.

Several political players have castigated the university for embracing retrogressive policies. Speaking at a recent Makerere Guild dialogue, Kira Municipality member of parliament Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda wondered why Makerere continued
to offer political science as a course, while simultaneously imposing restrictions on student participation in party politics.

“I want to appeal to the vice chancellor and the university secretary not to create situations that will bring us here to debate smaller things. Political parties are public institutions that are registered and regulated. You cannot be an institution that teaches political science, in which political parties are a topic of study, and then you say they cannot operate at the university, then why not stop political science and stop teaching about political parties?” Ssemujju said.

Alice Alaso, a former Woman MP for Serere district, told the university ad- administrators not to frustrate student political ambitions by stopping them from allying with political parties. She argued that university students have already reached maturity and established ties with their respective parties, and hence their enthusiasm for politics cannot be interfered with.

In an interview, Asuman Basalirwa, a former guild president of Makerere and currently an MP for Bugiri municipality, said virtual elections and banning political parties are being used by the university to curtail the freedom of association of the students, which he said has no place in a country that calls itself, democratic.

“We have received numerous reports about the current administration of Makerere University; it has very little respect for students’ rights, and I have told them openly to their faces,” Basalirwa said.

He added that by restricting students from participating in political party politics, the university is denying the country the opportunity to nurture future national leaders. However, Prof. Umar Kakumba, the deputy vice-chancellor in charge of Academics, who was also at the event, said the University Council on which he sits has never banned political affiliations.

“That tactical maneuver that came around was occasioned by the demands of the time. But let me state clearly, that nobody, no authority, including council, has ever banned political affiliations, because that is a right that is guaranteed by the constitution,” Kakumba said.

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