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Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Gulu University Council will amend some sections of the Students’ Guild Constitution to allow for virtual elections.
The proposed amendment follows the postponement of the guild elections that was slated on 26th January. The exercise was supposed to be conducted by online voting but it was found non-conformity with the Constitution that implied voting by secret ballot.
Initially, the elections that were scheduled for April 2020 failed to take shape after Covid-19 interrupted the process following the closure of education institutions by the government to contain the spread of the plague.
James Ojok Onono, the Assistant Public Relations Officer of the University says the amendments seek to lift Article 16 & 17 of the Guild Constitution 2012 which allows voting by secret ballot to take care of online or virtual polls.
Onono explains that several students have not yet reported to the school and voting by secret ballot would hinder the participation of majority students thus the process would invoke legal battle that University seeks to avoid.
Before the proposed election date, the Guild Speaker, Philip Acidri who also doubles as the Returning Officer wrote a circular postponing the elections citing unavailability of funds following a directive from the Dean of Students.
But Onono dispelled concerns regarding lack of funds to facilitate the activity. He disclosed that funds are available to conduct the elections but the University is just seeking a legitimate process for the polls to be conducted without any legal challenge.
It is the second time the Guild Elections have suffered a setback. Several students have implored the University Management to expedite the process and also conduct thorough sensitization of the entire students’ population to ensure proper participation in the polls.
The race for Guild President attracted seven nominated candidates. They are Saddich Ssempijja, Herbert Amaati and Herbert Ayiko, all of whom are from the Faculty of Medicine; John Ivan Yiga and Jacob Mukohua from the Faculty of Education and Humanities as well as Thomas Lapyem Awany and Dolphine Alonyo from the Faculty of Law.
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