Kombo Mashumba, outside Murdoch Village where he lives, is a third- year law student who wants to be the next Guild president. Picture: Lucas da Paz
In the third of our series on the ‘Guild election hopefuls’, Lucas da Paz meets a Zimbabwean international student with grand plans to boost campus culture.
Guild president candidate Kombo “Mash” Mashumba has vowed to become the new face of change if he is successful at the upcoming Murdoch University Student Guild elections.
Mashumba, 21, a third- year law student from Zimbabwe, plans to tell the Guild Party’s ‘Growth for Guild’ campaign this Thursday that he wants make a significant change to campus culture.
” The main changes I would like to make are campus culture and to help change the university vibe” Mashumba said.
” I would like there to be more representatives for first -year students, more support because they don’t have that right now and I didn’t have it when I started studying here.”
The Guild Elections which begins next Monday and will continue until October 27, will determine who replaces outgoing student president Louis Williams.
Williams told The Bounce that he was ‘satisfied’ with his work as president and the impact he had in his one- year tenure.
“We’ve opened up a kitchen at the Murdoch Tavern and we are looking to open up food at the Cafe Kadj in the library as well,” he added.
“The biggest challenge’s I’ve had to face is that people who don’t know that much about the Guild, but are unhappy with certain aspects with university life. Considering the Guild has been bankrupt twice in recent years, I think we have improved from that aspect”.
Mashumba, one of the four candidates vying for presidency, is prepared for the challenges ahead.
“I think one of the main challenges is that this job comes with a bit of scrutiny, so it will be hard to please everyone,” he says. However I think the aspect of campus culture is important and I feel that with the Guild having a bit of a bad reputation in the past, it might make it harder to convince people to come to our events”.