In the past years, I have observed keenly as Makerere University chooses its leaders year to year. The elections have always been spirited, noisy, full of rhetoric and one may say are always about the numbers. I have realized that we are falling prey to the democracy of numbers, the majority takes it all. Some may say that is the definition of democracy, but according to recent worldwide trends ,that is coming under threat. The very democracy which is supposed to champion the choice of the majority is now being fought as global citizens now think the establishment doesn’t work in their favour. This is perfectly explained by Brexit, Donald Trump, Duterte and Marine Le Pen.
Back home, we have our own fair share of challenges as it is now a common phrase that the best candidates do not necessarily win the election, simply because they maybe don’t do the right course or sleep in the right hall. So the landscape has now shifted from convincing the electorate with the best ideology or manifesto to just making sure you have enough loud boys, coming from a college or hall with numbers and you will become the next guild president.
The solution to such a conundrum would be instituting an electoral system kind of vote. In this system constituent schools are weighted according to the composition and contribution to the general population of the University. For example a win at CHUSS can be rated at 20points, 1st runner up at 15points and so on. Equally a win at CoNAS which has a lower population can be rated at 18points and so on. So the candidate in short has to campaign and spread his message to all schools and not concentrate on winning at one college with bigger numbers. This will help us get rid of the tyranny of the majority, increase participation in the electoral process, which will increase accountability of the guild to the students. Because everyone will have taken part equally, one the students take part in the process, then they can hold their leaders accountable.
It is important that we understand that such a college vote won’t be decided by delegates, but rather everyone will vote, only that such votes will be weighted according to set criteria to arrive at the final ratings. The notion of simple majority simply waters down the system and process. Some may dismiss this as a rather complex system, but we have to remember that we don’t have to completely understand a system to it to yield results.
We must always remember that we owe it to society to come up with practical solutions to our problems, in the age where democracy is under attack, refining it is a step we can’t afford to miss.
By Ashaba Ronald
