Makerere University sued over disqualified guild contestant

The Civil division of the High Court in Kampala is set to hear a case in which Bwiruka Bala David, one of the nominees for this year’s Makerere University guild presidency sued the University and its electoral commission over his disqualification from the contest.
Mr Bwiruka who is represented by of the Centre for Legal Aid also sued the institution and the eight candidates who were nominated to contest for the university’s top students’ leadership.
Last month, the university Electoral Commission chairman, Mr Roy Semboga said Mr David Bwiruka Bala and two other contestants, Mr Latima Kayondo and Mr Kenneth Seruwuma are no longer in the race for having retakes.
However, Mr Bwiruka in an affidavit contends that the University in cohorts with its Electoral Commission misinterpreted the law when he was flagged for having a retake hence making him ineligible to contest for guild presidency as per the guidelines.
“ I do not have a retake, but instead a missing paper which I did not do because court had not yet overturned my expulsion from the institution,” says Mr Bwiruka.
He further claims that university’s Academic Registrar and the Deputy Registrar of ICT “usurped the powers bestowed upon the University’s Senate by purporting to make the erroneous decision” that rendered him ineligible to contest for the guild presidency yet such a decision can only be made by the Senate.
He says that the expulsion had been due to him having led a student demonstration together with the university’s guild president, Mr Ivan Bwowe against the 60% tuition policy.
According to MUK’s regulations, a student who has not been on normal progress (that is, one having a retake) for two consecutive semesters is not eligible to stand for the students top leadership post.
The guidelines do not dictate that the aspirant should have been on normal progress for two consecutive semesters immediately preceding the election, so this is another ground for Bala’s petition, which he is relying on to argue in the alternative that nevertheless, he has once been on normal progress for the required two consecutive semesters.