The 36th President of the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA), Shillah Ainembabazi, is pushing for a second term despite clear legal and technical barriers that disqualify her from running again — a move critics say reeks of personal ambition over student interest.
Ainembabazi first clinched the presidency in December 2025 after a bitterly divisive election where she edged out Makerere University Business School’s Nabwire Rose and Makerere University’s Ankunda Harriet. Now, barely six months into what was meant to be a one-year term, she is already maneuvering to cling to power.
In May 2026, the former Victoria University vice guild president was named minister of gender and for persons with special needs in the 9th guild government under Mugarura Isaiah Ndebwoha. While the post appears to be a step down, insiders describe it as a calculated ploy — a resume-padding tactic designed to sidestep eligibility requirements and force her way back into UNSA’s top seat.
But the rules stand in her way. Previous UNSA election guidelines explicitly bar sitting NEC members from seeking re-election to the same office. Regulation 6 of the 36th National Students’ Council & Elections Guidelines states: “No student leader who previously served as UNSA NEC member or represented UNSA in other bodies shall be registered as a delegate except for secondary school students.”
The legal storm intensified on Tuesday when the Ministry of Education and Sports was petitioned to clarify whether incumbents like Ainembabazi can legally run again.
The petition, filed June 2, 2026, by Makerere student Keta Patience, argues that conflicting interpretations of the UNSA Constitution have created loopholes that leaders exploit to overstay. “I bring this petition to your office to provide an official interpretation and guidance regarding the eligibility of serving National Executive Committee (NEC) members to seek re-election into offices they currently occupy,” Keta wrote.
Keta’s petition cites the amended UNSA Constitution of 2022, which under Article 7(2) limits NEC terms to one year, from swearing-in until the next AGM before December. Yet, as the petition notes, “many students on NEC have overtime bent the rules in a bid to seek reelection into the same offices they hold,” ignoring the global Leadership Policy that student terms are designed to last only one year.
With the Ministry now forced to weigh in, Ainembabazi’s bid is shaping up as a test of whether UNSA’s rules will bend for one leader’s appetite for power or hold firm against it.
