Former Makerere University guild presidential aspirant Hannah Karema has spoken out about the recently concluded 2026 guild race, expressing dissatisfaction with the transparency and fairness of the electoral process.

Karema noted that the election, which was conducted online, limited candidates and voters from fully understanding what was happening behind the voting system despite students actively participating.

According to her, technical challenges affected the exercise from the very start of voting, particularly in areas where she claimed to enjoy strong support.

She explained that although voting was scheduled to begin in the morning, system failures delayed the process until around 1 PM in several colleges.

I don’t think the Makerere guild presidential race was fair, honestly. The voting was conducted online. Students voted, but you don’t get to know what happens on the other end.

Even when we started voting in the morning, the system first had issues, especially in colleges where I had overwhelming support. Systems failed to work, and students only started voting at around 1 PM.

She added that several developments during the exercise raised concerns for her about the transparency of the process, though she accepted the outcome.

There were some things that raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t fully convinced, and I could smell a rat that this wasn’t transparent enough, but it is okay; it all got done. I did my absolute best. I participated and gave it everything.

Despite her concerns, Karema described securing over 5,000 votes in an electronic election as a significant personal milestone, noting that previous guild races had seen winners accumulate roughly 3,000 votes.

She emphasized that the experience remains an important step in her leadership journey, regardless of the results.