By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus- The last lady to become Guild President at KIU was Comfort Ndagire from the school of law in 2017. Six years on, another law student, Annet Atuhaire synonymously known as Annah thinks she can walk the same path but with extraordinary intentions.

The coming few weeks are expected to get busier at KIU as the students' body gets into the process of choosing the next set of leaders at both college and the overall institution. Now that 2022/2023 Parliament is dissolved and the Electoral Commission instituted, the only wait is on the dates for the countdown to begin.

Even with the roadmap and dates yet to be out, several students have publicly displayed their interests in different positions in the Guild Union. The atmosphere is expected to become tense when the newly installed Independent Guild Electoral Commission finally réleases the roadmap for this year's Guild elections.

Atuhaire, like so many of her ambitious compatriots, has been so open about her desire to serve KIU'S student body while occupying the highest office. This dream of becoming Guild President of one of the best Universities in East Africa is not coming out of the blue. It is a dream hatched from childhood. Atuhaire has always strived to be a leader in every society she's lived in.

She has led at every level of her education and to highlight her unwavering desire to serve, Atuhaire unsuccessfully contested for national politics running for a sub-county councilor in 2020 despite challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Before all that, she had served as class monitor, health prefect, Head girl as well as Head Prefect at different times.

Later in August  2020, Atuhaire joined the University of her dreams to pursue a Bachelor of Laws. With only a few months at KIU, she set a record, becoming the first year one student to be appointed to serve in the KIU Guild Union Parliament when she was appointed to serve as a parliamentary clerk.

"l didn't undermine the position despite it being the lowest in the hierarchy in the Guid Parliament. l served to the best of my abilities as a clerk and l recorded minutes as

expected of my job," she says.

"This staged me into the space to monitor and watch how things run, it showed me where the loopholes are and what is required for things to be fixed, l knew l could be the next Messiah that KIU wanted to put things right. This drove my passion and desire to serve our mighty University Kampala International, and l knew l could only do that if l took a step to hold such a position as Guild President," she adds.

Leading intellectuals informed people of diverse ethnicity and academic background and classifications can be quite difficult especially when you expect no immediate reward in return. Atuhaire witnessed all this first hand but it is all too small to stop her.

"lam so glad l didn't give up amidst all challenges and here I am contesting for guild president at Kampala International University, a position that am so virtuous about. Am guided by the book of Ephesians which provides; 'that do nothing out of egotism but with humility consider others superior as you look out not to serve your own interests but also the interests of others," she explains.

Running under the slogan; Empower me, Empower us, Atuhaire's priority if she gets the students' mandate is to advocate for Wireless Internet Connection (WiFi) throughout the University. She hopes this would enhance students' innovations and research.

She also wants to promote the rights of disadvantaged students. She said that she would start by changing the title of the Member of Parliament for Students with disabilities to Member of Parliament representing Students with Special needs.

Her manifesto also talks about soliciting a concerted effort to aid students who lose parents, guardians, or sponsors during their studies. She plans to engage the University administration to at least find a way of assisting students in case of such an unfortunate occurrence as the death of the sole tuition provider.

With her immeasurable desire to lead, backed up by a rich experience in student leadership, Annet Atuhaire is confident that she can rewrite history and beat the male contenders to become the next Guild President of Uganda's leading Private University. She will only need to do her best and may be leave the rest for time to tell.

At least four individuals including Annah have publicly displayed their interest in KIU Guild Union's highest office. The School of law has a lion's share of two contenders while the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Education have an aspirant each. Many are expected to come out with time.

It should be noted that KIU practices an Electoral College type of democracy where the Guild President is voted by elected members of the Guild Parliament. This requires one, including the Presidential hopefuls to first win at the college level to be assured.