By Barbra Anyait
Victoria University students are set to vote for their next guild leaders virtually, KFM has learnt. The highly anticipated polls are set to be held on Thursday, January 12, and Friday 13.
The polls have attracted five (5) candidates including; Dennis Rwothomio, Mulangira Nakibinge, Etomet Gilbert, Serere Eugan and the only ‘goat’ lady Carter Jorine Karyn.
Prof. Lawrence Muganga, the Victoria University Vice-Chancellor says they resolved to hold the guild elections virtually to enable all students conveniently participate from where ever they are.
In the 2022 elections, students were introduced to the digital system that requires them to log into their personal accounts and choose their favourite candidates.
After logging into their accounts, students can vote only once and when they cast, the vote is recorded, and the voting button is automatically disabled. Muganga says with this innovation, there’s no room for vote-rigging or electoral malpractice since only registered students can cast their votes.
In 2022, Prof. Muganga described the electronic voting system as a great milestone; ‘’For the first time in history of higher education in this country, we have been able to use an electronic voting system and the contenders were able to count their votes in real-time. They were able to tell whether winning or losing in real time.’’
He noted that the system makes work easy not only for the electoral commission but also for the candidates who will be in their sitting rooms monitoring the numbers of votes and percentages they have scored.
‘’That is the technology we are championing on top of the level of transparency exhibited. We are very proud of this technology,’’ said Muganga before he urged other academic institutions and Uganda’s electoral commission to pick a leaf.
KFM understands that the polls will run from Thursday 9 am to Friday 5 pm.
