By Hannah Marion Namukasa
Earlier this week the students rose, till date they’re still invested with the sentiments about problems unresolved. They rose, were rising, always rise and yes, they have risen again. Not against everything but their voices, the loudness of their placards echoed with clarity.
Not like subjects of ancient dynasties who rose to praise and say “Yes” the enthronement of a beloved young able-bodied king. The students of Kyambogo University have risen to say “No”. In the societal default norm, they say “No” to the bad things, to the filth that needs cleansing, to a system that requires overhaul and to a decision-making table that is deaf to their cries.
To tamper with a constitution that has for long given the students the clearest way to influence didn’t go down warm their spines. The Kyambogo University Management pushed to shift the Electoral Commission from the leadership of the students’ Guild to the University Management. A move to have the EC selected by the Dean of Students would disenfranchise the students from constituting a Guild Leadership that works for students. Currently, the Guild EC has always been selected by the sitting Guild Leadership in close consultation with the office of the Dean of Students.
Article 17 Clause 2a is under attack. Till date, the article is clear and states that the President shall, in consultation with the Executive, propose members of the commission for approval by the GRC.
Louder, clearer and more assertive their voices rose. Rose like the sad wailing of a hungry caged bird. The need for the Electoral Commission Road Map is a demand on the structures of democracy that isn’t well delivering. The students, in accordance with Article 9 clause 1a of the Guild constitution, demand that the Electoral Commission must be put in place a month after the start date of a semester and that Presidential and GRC elections must take place as soon as possible.
Another fat “No” rung against the deep-rooted norm of Missing Marks. The students, being close to the end and start of this semester and exams respectively, have not received marks for the previous semester. The unnegotiable “NO” is a wake-up call and imploration that something must be done and the systemic virus that has corrupted the channel of timely release of marks be detected, scanned and cleaned.
In demand for a right to education that they deserve by virtue of their citizenship and the taxes they pay to that effect, the students have risen to demand that the management clears salaries, allowances and arrears for lectures who have vowed to stop teaching evening and weekend students and/or lectures.
To rise to cause change is a virtue most people, in misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the moral philosophy, have mistaken for a vice. To end corruption, misrepresentation, systemic inconsistences is to rebuild the walls of a collapsing society.
The students of Kyambogo University, yet again, have risen to put a fair and just brick on the walls of an unjust system. They say “NO” to cause a change they can say “Yes” to.
