Seven Makerere University students were detained by the Wandegeya Police for holding an unauthorized gathering.
The students were taken into custody at Wandegeya’s Emerald Hotel, where they had congregated for a news conference. After extensive security deployment at the original location, where the event was scheduled to take place, it was shifted to Emerald Hotel.
The students are claiming that the university administration is restricting their freedom of association by denying them the ability to associate with their preferred political parties and forbidding them from conducting in-person political campaigns during elections.
They are led by Vice Guild President Margaret Nattabi and Guild Minister for Information Muzafaluh Kabuulwa.
The seven students who were detained are accused of having an unlawful assembly, and they are currently being held at Wandegeya Police Station, according to Deputy Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango.
This occurs shortly after two candidates were allegedly disqualified from the upcoming guild election, which is scheduled for April 14, 2023, for allegedly holding a public debate in violation of the students’ guild statute, which states that student elections at the university must be virtual unless the university council decides otherwise.
Sulaiman Namwoza, an independent, and Margaret Nattabi, the NUP’s flag bearer and one of the 11 candidates nominated, are the two contenders.
Levi Tshilumba, the chairperson of the university’s electoral commission, issued a second letter on April 7, 2023, requiring all of the remaining guild candidates to make disclaimers in the form of videos distancing themselves from party politics shortly after disqualifying the two students.
After holding an unauthorized guild presidential campaign debate known as “Kimeza,” vice chancellor professor Barnabas Nawangwe suspended two additional students, Isaac Byaruhanga and his colleague Arnold Muganga. This led to a violent altercation that sent one student to the hospital.
Betungura Bewatte, a student from Uganda Christian University, perished in the Makerere guild campaigns in July of last year.
Due to this occurrence, the University decided to forbid physical elections and mandate that all future elections for student leaders take place online.
Partisan politics in student leadership should also be discouraged, according to the university, because they frequently trump students’ primary identity as students.
In a statement made prior to the arrest, Kabuulwa stated that they are requesting that the University administration overturn the suspension of the two students and immediately re-elect the two people who were previously disqualified for the next Guild election.
The chairman of the electoral commission should publicly explain why candidates were disqualified, he continued.
The University failed to provide a justification for their disqualification, according to Nattabi, who also claims that their exclusion from the event was unfair.
She is adamant that their political affiliations were the reason they were reportedly picked out and dismissed.
Nattabi stated that they have set the University a deadline of 48 hours, which ends on Tuesday morning, to respond to their enquiries in a satisfactory manner.
According to reports, if this is not done, there will be a protest at Freedom Square where the students want to peacefully air their issues.
When physical campaigning is prohibited, politicians may find it difficult to connect with voters who do not own cellphones, according to Sulaiman Namwoza, whose candidacy was also disqualified. For this reason, platforms like Kimeza are crucial.
