Human rights activist and LCV chairperson Nansana westward in Nansana Municipality faulted the circumstances under which a UCU student died the night before the guild elections at Makerere University at the administration.
27-year-old Betungura Bewatte, a second-year law student at Uganda Christian University, was stabbed to death during the last-minute campaigns at Makerere University in a scuffle between the supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Lawrence Alionzi aka Dangote and Forum for Democratic Change flag bearer Justus Tukamushaba to which camp the deceased belonged.
Giving his take on The Fatboy Show, Sserunkuma, a former guild president of Makerere Insitute of Technology 2019/ 2021, said that despite the active and growing youth interest and participation in politics, the circumstances also showed the University’s lack of clear campaign policies.
“The University administration caused some disorganization. Considering what happened, the two parties clashed against each other. It was a lot of chaos and fights between them.” Sserunkuma said.
He explained that the administration should have supervised the campaigns to prevent such dreadful incidents.
“The University must have established a clear arrangement for the party flag bearers to reach the potential voters, from where and at what particular time,” he said.
Like the national campaigns, he proposed that the administration should have monitored the process, ensuring that trails camp in different places, at different intervals.
But he advised youths to continue participating in the politics of their institutions, saying that active political participation at institutions of higher learning paves the way for joining national leadership.
However, he cautioned the youth against engaging in gruesome acts during political campaigns. "No one deserves to die no matter how offensive their behavior is. There are many other ways in which someone can be put to account,” he added.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.