IEBC Vihiga County office was invited to assist in the planning and conduct of the Kaimosi Friends University College (KAFUCO) student election. KAFUCO is a constituent college of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST). The College is in Hamisi constituency of Vihiga County with a student population of 1700.
The institution holds students' elections annually. Interestingly, the Institution has put in place an Electoral Commission comprising of a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and 9 commissioners.
Elections in the institution are conducted at two (2) levels namely; Electoral College and the executive elections. The Electoral College elections are conducted to elect representatives in the following positions: Male/Female Representative School of Business Education, Representative School of Science, Representative School of Computing Information and Technology, male/female representative School of Education and Social Sciences and male/female representative Non-Residents and representative Residents. The student executive elections are conducted to come up with the executive office comprising of: Chairperson, Vice chairperson, Secretary General, Finance Secretary, Academics Secretary, Gender and Special Interest Secretary, Games, Sports and entertainment Secretary.
The elective positions are open to students in 1st to 3rd year only. The Vice Chair's position is reserved for the female student and that of the Secretary Gender and Special Interest is reserved for student with disability.
The Dean of Students approached Vihiga County IEBC office to request for partnership in the conduct and management of the student council elections. Mr. Isaac Ruto (CEC VIHIGA Constituency) and Hamisi Constituency CAA were nominated by Ag.CEM, Mr. Mark Owiso to spearhead the exercise and assume the role of the RO and DRO respectively. Briefing and sensitization of the Election officials were conducted on 3rd April, 2019. The Electoral College Elections was carried out on 5th April, 2019 while the Student Executive Elections was done on 8th April, 2019.
Before elections, the school selects an electoral and student electoral Commissioners and declares the elective seats vacant a nd calls for applications for the declared seats. The electoral commission receives the application and starts nomination process. Nomination of candidates is done in line with the school’s governing election constitution. Vetting is done to ensure students are of good character and discipline.
After the election, the winners were declared and issued certificates for the various elective positions. The election losers conceded defeat and were at hand to congratulate the winners.