About a year ago, Milly Mutonyi, who was studying at a school in Mukono District, contested for the position of prefect in charge of academics, while in Senior Five. Although the vetting committee had given her a green light to contest for the position of her choice, the early days of her campaigns were full of frustrations and uncertainties as she was unpopular among the potential voters. Up to this point, Mutonyi had indicated she couldn’t afford to bribe students like some of her competitors. The only money that she had at her disposal was Shs 50,000 that she got from her parents for personal emergencies. ‘My competitors were giving their supporters money to buy canteen food and sweets,’ Ms Mutonyi recalls.
‘This allowed them to pull crowds, as they were assured of something at the end the day.’ However, she had to think of innovative ways to win the hearts of students, a trick that worked for her. ‘I also resorted to singing and dancing for them during campaigns and they liked it. In addition some students who sympathised with me because of my low economic status, were convinced that I had the potential of being Academic Affairs prefect,’ she says. ‘They volunteered and moved from class to class to mobilise for support and the magic worked. When we went to the polls, I emerged the winner.’ This term, learners in different schools across the country will be electing student leaders who will serve them for a period of one year. However, many potential student leaders are increasing shunning this democratic process after being discouraged to do so due to the blatant monetisation of the campaigns.
The commercialisation of school elections remains a stumbling block against students, who are unable to spend cash on voters, in exchange for votes. Besides, printing out campaign materials, seeking election remains an expensive venture to many potential leaders. Some of the school administrators we talked to say although they discourage the practice, in line with guidance from the Ministry of Education and Sports, some students claim that it so hard for them to abandon the habit when their role models in the political arena still embrace voter bribery. ‘One time, I was cautioning learners against voter bribery and some of them wondered why school children are prohibited from giving something small to their voters, yet adults vying for political positions are not barred from the same practice,’ a headteacher of one of the primary schools in Kampala says.
The persistent trend of commercialising student leadership elections in Ugandan schools recently prompted the Ministry of Education and Sports to issue guidelines on how the election of student leaders should be conducted in schools. The guidance is intended to promote a culture of ascending to leadership positions on merit. Under the guidelines, Schools were instructed to ban bribery, hate speech, defacement of school property and the formation of political parties or alliances. The Ministry is now looking to regulate student elections through the official guidelines for safe conduct of Entertainment, Co-Curricular Activities, and Election of Student Leaders. According to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, the rules at hand ensure that all pre-primary, primary, and post-primary institutions conduct transparent, non-partisan, and peaceful leadership selection processes.
The guidelines task school managers to make every effort to eliminate use of money and other forms if inducement in election of student leaders to promote a merit based process. Schools are also prohibited from subjecting students to paying application fees and prohibits candidates from using commercially produce campaign materials such as T-shirts, caps, posters, key holders among others. However, some students are yet to come to terms with the new guidelines. Mr Nicholas Opata, the Principal of St. Julian Schools, says that although management prohibits voter bribery allow bribery but some may do it in hiding. ‘First, as a school, we try to discourage use of money, as this is likely to get rid of real leaders because incompetent bad leaders will take advantage of them and use the money to influence the whole process,’ Mr Opata affirms.
‘We can’t rule it out but in our schools, we discourage commercialisation of elections from the word ago.’ ‘They would want to come and campaign for their children give money which we always discouraged because we have implications associated with that,’ Mr Opata affirms. ‘So, the implications is, that such leaders can’t represent the students fully and be accountable because those who ate the money will fear to challenge them when they fail to lead them as expected.’ The St Julian Schools principal says they run a government system, where leaders are elected to lead the three arms of the school government, the Legislature, Judicially and the executive as a way of preparing them for future leadership roles. Those vying for the position of president are subjected to a presidential debate. According to Mr Opata, the kind of preparation that students receive has seen some of their students become guild Presidents of Makerere University, Uganda’s premier University, among other leadership positions outside the school environment.
Mr Opata acknowledges that commercialisation of elections in Ugandan schools is a vice that has persisted for decades and commends the Ministry of Education and Sports for the electoral reforms that bar the practice. Mr Peter Kavuma, the Director of Studies (DOS) at Midland High School in Kawempe adds that the school management doesn’t tolerate commercialisation of elections. However, he says that he cant rule out bad elements who treasure it. ‘Usually, students campaign for about two weeks. We don’t allow bribes but of course they can do secretly. As a school, we have been discouraging commercialisation of elections even before the Ministry of Education developed guidelines on the same because we know that it causes confusion. An election is not a business where voters have to sell voters to whoever is willing to pay.
All we want is to give equal opportunities to both the rich and the poor to take up leadership positions. Voting on the basis of money locks out able leaders,’ Mr Kavuma says. The headteacher of Buganda Road Primary School, Mr Samuel Kewaza, says the school discourages the use of money for election materials like posters. According to him, practicing free and fair elections in school helps the Ministry of Education to nurture future leaders who will avoid fraudulent ways of acquiring leadership positions. ‘Children usually practice what they see. If they are left to buy votes while in school, they practice the same when they grow up,’ Mr Kewaza says. He adds that the schools have digitalised the voting process to check vote rigging. ‘We have our inbuilt system developed by our IT team. We get the photographs of the candidates and upload the ballot paper. The children line up in their respective classes and vote online, using a smartphone management by the teacher.’
Each voter is given a special number to avoid voting for a given candidate for more than once. ‘The polling agents also follow the process from a special room to know the number of votes their candidates obtain,’ he says. Mr Kewaza explains that students who express interest in leadership positions are screened and given an opportunity to talk to children especially during assemblies, so that the children can’t get to know them and listen to their manifesto. What the Ministry expected that schools and learners to do during election period. The Education Ministry expects schools to establish an independent electoral commission to oversee the process.
Commission members are not allowed to contest for any leadership positions to avoid conflict of interest. Candidates must have a strong academic record to ensure that leadership duties do not affect their studies. Nominees must have a clean disciplinary record with no history of gross misconduct, strikes, or suspensions A disciplinary committee comprising the headteacher, patron, and selected staff must vet all nominated candidates to ensure they meet moral and ethical standards. Campaigns must be conducted peacefully and within designated timeframes, during specific assemblies or specified campaign days. Candidates are required to present constructive, school-focused manifestos rather than making unrealistic promises. Elections must be conducted transparently, typically using a secret ballot system or designated digital voting as approved by the school’s administration.