Female student tipped to win NUR guild elections

SOUTHERN PROVINCE HUYE— Aimée Mwizerwa is expected to become the first ever female guild president in the history of the 45 year-old biggest public institution of higher learning in the country. In a dramatic turn of events during the public campaigning yesterday, Issa Byarugaba, her sole opponent on the post, withdrew his candidature. He asked his supporters to vote for Mwizerwa. “Due to personal reasons I will not continue in the race for the post of guild president. I request all my supporters to vote for Mwizerwa,” said Byarugaba, in a short speech to the Electoral College. Mwizerwa, a fourth year agriculture student in an interview with this reporter said that her primary focus once elected will be addressing students’ academic concerns. The students have previously complained of inadequate teaching staff. “The issue of lack of lecturers in some faculties is a big concern for students. Together with the university administration, we need to find a solution to this problem,” she said. There has been little excitement that is usually generated by elections at the university campus. This has been mainly due to the change in the students’ constitution, which now requires elections to be conducted through electoral colleges unlike before. This means that the over 10, 000 students are not directly involved in the election process but rather vote through their class and faculty representatives. The change in the constitution was occasioned by last year’s guild elections which were marred by alleged divisive campaigns by candidates, and the alleged infiltration of political parties into students’ politics. Consequently the elections were suspended and a caretaker guild committee instituted pending amendment of the students’ constitution. The new amended constitution also created the position of second deputy guild president. Speaking during the public campaign session yesterday, the Rector Prof. Silas Lwakabamba called upon student representatives not to abuse the confidence entrusted in them by their fellow students, by voting into office able leaders. “You wield a lot of power so use it wisely by putting the right people into office,” said Lwakabamba. The NUR Rector said that there were wide consultations during the amendment of the student’s constitution that was accepted by the University Board – the highest decision making body. He called for a ‘clean’ campaign and counselled the losers to honour the results and accept defeat. 13 guild positions are up for grabs. Results of the elections that were held yesterday afternoon could not be obtained by press time. Ends