Robert Mukembo, a second year student of Medicine & Surgery, has been declared winner of the hotly contested Gulu University guild presidential race.
Last week Nancy Atimango was elected as the first guild president for Gulu university Kitgum branch. The first in the university’s history.
The election was delayed by two weeks after Benson Otim, a second year law student dragged the university guild council to court after he was blocked from nomination.
Henry Twinomugisha, the Assistant Registrar for Gulu High Court granted an order restraining the university officials conducting any election until the matter is disposed off.
Otim was blocked from being nominated on grounds that he has a retake in one of the course units.
Article 19 (A) of the guild constitution bars any student from running for an office s/he has a retake.
Mukembo was announced winner on the early hours of Sunday and he becomes the 15th guild president of Gulu University since its inception in 2002.
For the last 12 years, the guild races have been won by students pursuing business courses due the advantage they have in the numbers.
He replaces Richard Bongowat Luganya, a student pursuing law.
Mukembo scored 1,433 (66.2 percent) of the votes against his closest rival, Simon Peter Ocan, a second year Bachelor of Public Administration student who came second with 336 (15.5 percent) of the votes.
Other candidate who were in the guild race are Reagan Okumu, second year student of Bachelors of Education who garnered 222 votes, and Alex Asimwe Byaruhanga, a third year law student came last with just only 172 votes representing 7.9 percent of the valid votes.
The students also elected their representatives to the guild council.
At least 2,184 students participated in this year’s guild election if compared 2,330 in the previous election.
John Emmanuel Namasa, the returning officer Gulu University electoral commission, said the elections were largely free and fair.
Namasa noted that due to the smooth election, no one has so far lodged any complaint.
But he said that there were cases of complaints over the tallying of Guild Representatives Council’s results at one of the polling.
