MANIFESTO

MANIFESTO; TOGETHER WITH THE NEXT PRESIDENT, HERE IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

• SPORTS-

Our community has expanded in a profound way. We are no longer a smaller community. The two coasters that had been carrying us to sports trips will no longer suffice this time around (even then, some students missed trips because the coasters were full before the trip was announced). It is our job to fix this. We need to ask the administration to accept the Macopolo bus that was turned down because then our community was smaller. It is time to meet the demands of the change we are going through.


• CAFETERIA-

The standard of food in the cafe continues to leave a lot to be desired. It is our responsibility to ensure mantainance high quality of standards of food at all times by continuously putting a scrutinising eye on the caterer and his services.

We are no longer being given 'aliora' and sugar. Our next job is to reintroduce what was taken away from us as a result of a change tho at has brought some anxiety for the students. We will do this so that our night studies can remain as long as we want without retiring because of hunger.


• ENTERTAINMENT-

It is not right that we should not have DSTV screens installed in the new hostels of Chambo, Soche and Oslo because our readers could not find a way to do this. Young men who have told me about their disappointments of not watching a game involving their beloved clubs of Arsenal and Man U can not afford to wait again and then miss world cup games because of too much congestion in our lounges after sports complex was closed; they know we need to change COMSU so that it finally works for us all. Thats why I am running in this race.


• ICT

Lets have our ICT room run for 24 /7 as it was before. Internet access should not be for the elite only, but for all who needs it and when they need it.


These are some of the things that I will persue in my office, as vice president, together with the next president of COMSU.

HOW - OUR TIME HAS COME

A PERSONAL STATEMENT FROM TINKHANI MBICHILA

Running for the vice presidency is a profound decision. It is a decision that no one should make on the basis of election hype or personal ambition loan. Before I committed myself to this race, I wanted to make sure that this is right most importantly for you. I certainly did not expect to find myself in this position a year ago, but as I listened to your stories in which you spoke of your dreams and the promises that have been ignored, I have been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. A politics of common sense and shared sacrifice. Each year we see COMSU candidates tell us their fanfare talk full of empty promises only to see them crush when everybody get in office.We feel in our gut the lack of honest vigour in our leaders of today.You don’t need a poll to know that the vast majority of students are weary of the dead zone that COMSU politics has become in which narrow interests buy advantage over common sense.

I believe a new kind of politics is possible. So, I spent some time thinking how best we can advance the course of progress that we so desperately need. The decisions that have been made and the promises that have been ignored have put our campus in an awkward position. Our community is changing rapidly, and that means profound changes to our status quo. Whether those problems are dwindling standards of food in the cafeteria or a compromised general welfare, we feel in our gut a great need for change. Many of you shared with me your disappointments when you were forced to stay three, four or five days without taking a shower because of water shortage. As you are aware that only three TV screens are available for our hostels leaving the other hostels without any choice and with the coming world cup, no one can afford to miss a game because of too much congestion in the lounges. Together with the next president, I will work towards the buying of at least two TV screens for the new hostels.

Academic affairs remains the very heartbeat of our existence here.You can agree with me that we are witnessing a deepening crisis in exam administration and publication of exam results.The introduction of checking results on-line is magnificient but this system is working to the disadvantage of many who do not have internet services in their respective homes. It was pathetic that most of us were not able to get our results in time and that affected our preparations for supplimentary exams because of such a poor arrangement. I strongly belief that the college can allow students to wait on campus for their final year results if they so wish without giving ultimatums as it had always been.

Challenging as they are its not the magnitude of these problems that concerns me the most, its the smallness of our politics. We have faced big problems before, but our representatives today seem incapable of coming together to tackle the biggest problems that we face. Even in the face of the enormous challenges of today, I have great faith and hope about the future because I believe in you.

Every generation has an obligation to work on behalf of the next generation, we have to work to make their lives better. This will not happen by itself, this can only come from you; students of COM who believe there is a better way and are willing to work for it. This campaign is not just about winning an election its but why we should; to transform COMSU in a fundamental way by opening up COMSU and bringing it back to you so that our leaders can work for us. In this election we are called to reaffirm and re-fix our union, our values and our commitments to hold them up against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up to our desired destiny.

In some positions experience ask the question is quality, vanity ask the question is popular, but conscious ask the question is right. Too much is at stake in this election and if we don’t change course soon , we may be the first generation that leaves behind a weaker and a more fractured COMSU than any time in history. Our work is not yet finished, but future generations will mark this moment. Thats why I am asking you to stand with me, thats why Iam asking you to join me in seizing this moment. Thats why I am asking you to vote for me. Thank you.

Lets GO and vote for TINK and lets 'Tink' our for VP.