ANGELO JEDIDIAH
Producer/Reporter
A new leadership team is set to take over the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Guild of Students following its annual elections.
On Thursday night, it was announced that 21-year-old Joshua Jitta was elected guild president, securing 2,178 votes.
As the sole candidate in the race, however, he also received 966 no-confidence votes.
Speaking with Guardian Media, Jitta said an organised “no confidence” campaign had been mounted by some members of the outgoing executive, but he intends to serve the student body.
One of his key campaign promises is greater accountability, including the publication of all guild spending, which he said had not been consistently done in previous years.
“We ran on the idea of accountability because there have been fiascos where the current executive would have endorsed certain pieces of government policy or legislation or circumstances that were not a reflection of student voices,” Jitta said.
“It’s my intention to serve all students, fairly, without malice, and represent their voices. Because that is something that has not been happening to the best of what it should be.”
Meanwhile, incoming vice president Ryan Duncan may have become the youngest person ever elected to that role at age 18.
Duncan, who is pursuing a certificate in public administration and will begin undergraduate studies in September, secured 1,260 votes.
“Yes, I may be the youngest councillor. But I will bring fresh ideas, a fresh face and a new voice to the council. It really came down to my friends asking me to step up and represent them. Because they saw the potential in me and I answered.”
In the race for secretary, Johanna Julien won with 1,328 votes, while Anaqet Williams secured the post of treasurer with 1,167 votes.
Outgoing guild president Vedanand Hargobin contested the post of postgraduate representative but was unsuccessful. Zephion Lee-Harris won the position.
