The Electoral Commissioner of the University of Media, Arts, and Communication- Ghana Institute of Journalism (UniMAC-GIJ), Christian Mpere has declared Fatimatu Ali as the SRC President-Elect of UniMAC-GIJ for the 2023-2024 Academic year based on provisional results which makes her the first female SRC President of the institution.
In a too-close-to-call presidential race between Mohammed Fedaws and Fatimatu Ali right from the declaration of intent till the close of campaigning, the electorates of Ghana’s first Journalism institute voted favorably to elect a female as the SRC President to steer the helm of students affairs today August 11.
After polls for online voting were closed at 4 pm, a total vote cast of 1,288, the second candidate on the ballot, Fatimatu Ali with her running emerged as the winner after sweeping 659 votes representing 51.2% with Mohammed Fedaws retaining the remainder of 48.8%.
The feat corroborates the trend of females breaking the gender disparity in student politics as Yvonne Osei Adobea was elected the first female SRC President of KNUST followed by Rukaya Hussein of the University for Development Studies last month.
Fati garnered much external influence with endorsement from the General Manager of Pan-African Television, Ama Pratt, and the General Manager of GHOne TV and Starr FM, Nana Aba Anamoah following Yvonne Adobea’s win which fueled her pace to victory over Mohammed Fedaws who established his interest in the position earlier and marketed his intention even in 2022.
With the slogan “Students interest must be paramount again” she outlined her policies which include launching the SRC House Cleaning Policy intended to ensure the review and adoption of the drafted constitution and also educate students on the constitution to empower them to demand accountability.
With regards to the student’s purse, she promises to leverage her leadership as the yardstick to advocate for the increase of SRC dues which is currently pegged at 50 cedis per student, and leveraging on the brand equity of UNIMAC-SRC to fund a 5-year development plan with GIL and NAFTI (infirmary, a bus, and a hostel).
This victory further confirms a poll held by Herald Ghana where Fatimatu Ali garnered 51.7% representing 402 votes of the total 778 responses from constituents making her the favorite to win over Mohammed Fedaws, and Daniel Frimpong who was disqualified after he failed to meet the threshold during vetting.
find a copy of the provisional results: