On Sunday, 15th May, 2022, the elections of the great Alexander Brown Hall held. Brownites were glad that this phase was finally over, and that a new tenure would finally start. However, in a shocking turn of events, it appears that this phase is indeed not yet over. This sequence of events led to an Hall Assembly meeting which held on Wednesday, 18th May, 2022.
At this meeting, the Electoral Committee Chairperson informed the House about a new development. This new development involved an information from the Hall Warden stating that due process for the elections was not followed. This said due process involved the ratification of names of aspirants which is done by sending a list of aspirants to the Dean through the Hall Warden. He stated that this meant that the elections were null and void and had to be re-conducted. The Electoral Committee Chairperson further stated that this process was started immediately this information got to her and the names of the aspirants have been sent and the list duly signed. Also, a new date for elections had to be included in the letter with 18th of May as the new date chosen. She mentioned that this decision was reached by herself and the hall leadership – the Speaker and Hall Chairperson.
Members of the House expressed displeasure at the fact that such important news reached their ears late. They were also unhappy that a new date was chosen without the knowledge of members of the House. The absence of the incumbent Hall Chairperson did not go unnoticed by several Honorables and questions were raised as regards why he was absent at such a meeting. There were debates as regards the way forward and the electoral committee was asked to get back to the Hall Warden stating why conducting a new election would be difficult. These reasons include cost and the current state of political apathy in the Hall.
In more recent updates, the Hall Warden agreed that a re-election would not be done on the condition that aspirants sign a statement stating that while they agree that the earlier conducted election did not follow due process, that is proper approval from the dean, they however still want the election results to be the one used. The reason stated for this is to prevent a future occurrence where an aspirant has an issue with the election and claims that they should have been null and void in the first place. The phone numbers of aspirants will also be included in this said document to allow the Hall Warden reach out to said aspirants and ascertain that they signed the letters of their own volition.
In view of reaching an agreement, a Congress has been called. The Congress is currently scheduled to hold on Friday, 20th May by 10pm.
