Lubega declared new Makerere guild president

In a tightly contested election, Lubega Vincent Nsamba, associated with the National Unity Platform (NUP), has emerged victorious as Makerere University's 90th Guild President. The Makerere University 90th Electoral Commission officially declared Nsamba the winner after he secured 2540 votes in today's online election.

Lubega's victory was achieved by a narrow margin, with his closest competitor, Ariho Edmond, trailing closely behind with 2536 votes, making him the second runner-up with a mere four-vote difference. Kasekende Fulungensio secured the position of third runner-up after receiving 1674 votes, while Wandukwa Simon claimed the fourth runner-up position with 1039 votes. Notably, a total of 16 candidates vied for the Makerere 90th Guild seat in this election cycle.

Lubega, a second-year student from College of Humanities and Social Sciences doing Bachelors of Arts with Social sciences was declared winner by Mr Ramadhan Kirunda, the university’s electoral commission chairperson on Thursday evening.

According to Kirunda, a total of 25,000 voters were expected to participate in the election, indicating significant engagement from the student body.

The students on Thursday also voted for their school guild representatives, Halls guild representatives, College Guild council members, and Chairpersons of college councils, debating and sports union chairpersons and students with disability heads, among other positions.

Unlike the previous elections where candidates had the liberty to identify themselves with the national political parties of their choice, students in the past two elections were banned from using political parties as vehicles for their campaigns.

This came into effect after the University adopted the new Guild statute which explicitly prohibits the interference of political parties in student politics at Makerere University.

Article 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 Makerere University without discrimination.
The statute came into force after a student died during one of the guild campaigns. 
Lubega will be tasked with representing the interests of the student body, advocating for their rights, and working collaboratively with university administration to address pertinent issues affecting the campus community.

Nsamba's victory was achieved by a narrow margin, with his closest competitor, Ariho Edmond, trailing closely behind with 2536 votes, making him the second runner-up with a mere four-vote difference. Kasekende Fulungensio secured the position of third runner-up after receiving 1674 votes, while Wandukwa Simon claimed the fourth runner-up position with 1039 votes. Notably, a total of 16 candidates vied for the Makerere 90th Guild seat in this election cycle.