Isaac Byaruhanga, a fourth year student at Makerere University, was hospitalized after attempting suicide by consuming poison.
The incident occurred on Friday after he learned he had been suspended from the university for allegedly participating in an unauthorized political debate dubbed ‘Kimeza’ at Mitchell Hall on Wednesday. The Kimeza resulted in a scuffle during which a Makerere student, Robert Sserunjogi, was badly beaten and injured. Makerere Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, said Byaruhanga had been suspended for "spearheading" the scuffle.
Byaruhanga denies taking part in the scuffle and says he was devastated by the news of his suspension.
"Right now it is disturbing my mental health, I don’t feel fine right now, am not concentrating because I have so many issues that have been running in my life and when I have added up this one, I feel it is too much for me," Byaruhanga was quoted by other media houses.
The Kimeza also resulted in the disqualification of National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Margaret Nattabi and independent Sulaiman Namwoza from the 89th Makerere guild election.
The two were disqualified for organizing the "political" debate at Mitchell Hall. The chairperson of the university electoral commission, Levi Tshilumba, said the duo's action contravened the university guild election statue, which stipulates that student elections at the university are virtual, unless otherwise determined by the university council. Tshilumba noted that the pair was disqualified for going against the student regulations.
"This is to inform the Makerere University student body that guild president aspirants Margaret Nattabi and Sulaiman Namwoza have been disqualified from the 89th guild presidential race," Tshilumba said in a statement.
It should be noted that the university council declared last year that all election activities, including campaigns and voting, were to be held virtually henceforth.
The decision followed a scuffle between supporters of NUP and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) during which a student from Uganda Christian University died in a stabbing incident.
The university had decided to ban physical electoral activities from the university premises to prevent such violent incidents from reoccurring.