Lubogo’s journey to winning a legal tech award

You recently won a legal tech award. How did you become a part of the awards?

The legal tech innovation awards, Africa happen annually and late last year they happened in Kenya, where I emerged best legal tech researcher of the year 2022. This year they sent out invites for people to participate and winners are based on what contribution they have made in the society. They evaluated one’s contributions and how relevant they are or the likelihood of impacting others. I was recognised for the work I have done in research and my legal innovation of the Suigeneris Law App. The judges were impressed by it because it changed people’s mindsets.

What is the Suigeneris app about?

The Suigeneris Law App teaches law at all levels, from certificate to doctorate level. It is a digital platform where one can access novels, inspirational material and audios free of charge. In this way, we are able to distribute information to all schools.

How did the awards impact your career?

People expected me to have received a lot of money from the awards but the bigger question would be how I will use the award to influence other people. 

rms such as legal tech weeks where I am given the opportunity to showcase what I have done and give keynote speeches. In regard to my career, this award attracted all sorts of people with different intentions as some felt I did not deserve the opportunity.

What are some of the challenges you faced participating in the awards?

There was a lot of competition but in spite of that, we were able to showcase and win. 

What other awards have you scooped before?

During the pandemic, we normalised lectures using WhatsApp and Telegram to make videos and audios, which won us as the Faculty of Law an award in 2022 at the National Council of Higher Education.

How do you want to be remembered?

I do not want to be remembered by this award or how big it is. I want to be remembered by moments of rationality, integrity and self-sacrifice. One man said the value of money increases if shared among many.

What is your purpose regarding the work you do? 

Most of the things I do are to help my brother and sister make them have a softer landing than I did and to prepare them to lead the future.

What are some of the virtues that your career thrives on?

Resilience, tenacity, focus, humility and hunger to do more.

Where do you derive your inspiration?

Many things I do or write about are to change tomorrow. Bernard Shaw is my best role model. He said: “Most men see things as they are but I dream of things that are not and ask why not.” These books change the face of today and tomorrow.

What are some of the gaps you intend to fill in legal practice?

I found a gap in the legal juristic products; even now I am disappointed with some of the course units taught at Law school. This is a new era and we cannot do without cyber law such as forensic law which is taught in fewer schools. We might have a department of this law but it is ideal. 

I have written books on some of these areas, for instance Artificial Intelligence, Digital Money For Where To Put Your Currency. I see a gap which inspires me to write and I believe we cannot be left out by outdated ideologies.

What is the current situation of research in the country?

As a nation, we have few research centres, which are updated daily with cases as they are and that reach only the ordinary people, which is not effective. These kinds of gadgets or systems are being enforced on an entity that is predominantly ignorant, notwithstanding the fact that people who are meant to be running it are more ignorant than the masses.

To avert this issue we encourage dissemination of information to people. The issue is that older people live on past intellectual glory. However, the idea is to embrace the young ones and teach them the facets. The other issue is that some of them are lazy and uninterested in understanding new things.

We need to equip research centres with tangible results and change the system with books that are game changers. We should brand packages that suit the young and old and are diverse. Making material free and accessible to young lawyers.

 What needs to change?

We have to realise that society is changing and we are changing with it. One of my advocacy as a jurist is to change the syllabus in most schools. So many of the things were imposed on us through learning by virtue of the fact that we were a colony, so we need to think outside the box through encountering Literature that relates with our setting and also revive some of the great old books written locally. For instance, books such as The History Of Busoga, Commander Of The British Empire.

How do you unwind from the busy schedules?

I enjoy writing, reading and teaching. My writing came from a depressing time of my life and I wanted to channel the negativity into positivity. This caused me to self-discover. Also, I enjoy interacting with students and as I engage with them I am challenged to come up with noble ideas. I have provisions at home for gaming such as basketball and a football pitch but I do that for my children.