Kyambogo University Elections: UYD Candidate ‘Pockets’ Shs 100M Bribe, Defects To NRM
For years, University guild elections have served as a breeding ground for student voices and political grooming.
Yet, lately, like a creeping plague, violence, and bribery have migrated from national politics into university grounds, where the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) grip is as thin as a thread.
Instead of winning hearts or nurturing its base, the ruling party circles, like an eagle, waiting for the chick to stumble before it swoops in for the kill.
This time, the NRM has swooped in to snatch Thomas Rwantonzi, a candidate the Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) had carefully lined up for the Kyambogo Guild Presidency.
According to credible reports, Rwantonzi was lured with a sh100million bait. The latter was already set for nomination on September 18, 2024, and had already printed campaign posters.
However, he abandoned the UYD’s green for NRM’s yellow, reportedly after pocketing the lucrative payoff.
Disciplinary Action
Worse still, Rwantonzi, who was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Statistics under registration number 23/U/STD/12420/PD, scored a retake in Economics and Social Statistics during the 2023/24 academic year.
By law, such academic underperformance disqualifies a candidate from running for the highest office, on grounds of being ‘unfit for purpose’. Although he has since switched to a different course, the rules require him to first clear the retake.
However, in his case, every rule has been bent.
The Guild Electoral Commission Chairperson, Axam Ssembatya, who appears compromised, has turned a blind eye to violations which include military intimidation of opponents, harassment of students during rallies, assault of female students from opposition camps, and tearing down opponents’ posters.
Correspondences seen by this publication reveal that on October 4, Osman Mohamed, the guild secretary, wrote to the guild disciplinary committee expressing alarm over increasing acts of impunity.
He noted that while the chairperson is required to consult with the secretary on electoral matters, Axam had postponed the polls without their knowledge.
Mohamed argued that this action violated Article 19 of the guild constitution, which mandates that “any person or group of persons who breach the students’ guild shall be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the guild disciplinary committee, and if necessary, the student’s affairs and welfare committee or any other relevant university committee.”
Axam fires back
However, in a display of authoritarianism, Axam Sembatya retaliated by dismissing Mohamed, citing Article 17(3) of the Kyambogo Guild Constitution and Article 2 of the 1995 Constitution.
He stated, “Your conduct, performance metrics, inability to adapt to evolving operational paradigms, and lack of alignment left me with no choice but to invoke these provisions. Your previous contributions to the commission were detrimental and suboptimal, tainted by self-serving politics that compromised your impartiality, violating Article 61 under Article 2 of the 1995 Constitution.”
“You are hereby informed to hand in all commission property in your possession within 24 hours effective forthwith,” Sembatya ordered.
Heartbroken by the situation, Ssengooba Yunusu, the current president of the UYD-Kyambogo chapter, announced that they have since thrown their weight behind Tonney Bwete Tonney, an independent candidate in the race.