Presidential candidate Ahmadou Gitteh’s main goal, if elected, is to make the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) a more transparent student union.
The third-year communications engineering student is running under the slate Change CUSA.
The current executive’s management of CUSA is what prompted him to run, he said.
“This students’ alliance, it’s terrible,” Gitteh said. “They did things in their own interest, not the students’ interest.”
Gitteh said his main focus in office is to maintain objectivity when dealing with CUSA’s job hiring and scholarship applications.
“Seeing how much money and scholarships have been mismanaged and how they give jobs to their friends instead of those who deserve them, I felt it was my responsibility as an objective and responsible person to intervene,” he said.
A transparent union is key to productivity, he added.
“An objective student association is there to make sure students’ interests are advanced, they are there to make sure the most conductive environment is created in a university.”
A 28-year-old international student, Gitteh previously worked as a journalist at Gambia Radio and Television Services. In 2008, he founded the Gitteh Foundation, a not-for-profit that raises money in order to provide food and education for Gambian orphans.
At Carleton, Gitteh served as an engineering representative on CUSA council in 2012-13, and has volunteered for frosh orientation.
His experience on council gave him a glimpse into CUSA’s inner workings, he said.
“There was a lot of division and animosity,” Gitteh said. “It was very tough and objectivity was lacking and that’s one thing that I’ve learned from it.”
Gitteh is also seeking to unite the student body, which he says is now divided between A Better Carleton (ABC) supporters and non-supporters.
“The school has never been divided before and we want to bring them together,” he said.
Gitteh also wants to involve more international students and engineering students in CUSA affairs, who are currently under-represented, he said.
As the highest-paying students at the university, more job opportunities need to be made for them, he said.
In transit affairs, Gitteh wants to fix the heated bus stop located outside of Minto Case.
“[The current executive] put a heater without a door—a disaster,” he said. “We’re going to fix that.”
Budget in mind, Gitteh is also looking to bring heating to the bus stop located outside the Athletics Building.
He said he will also negotiate with the city and OC Transpo in order to have the route 111 bus running at Carleton during the weekends.
Gitteh said he is confident his team and group of volunteers will promote his platform during the campaign.
