LDC boss calls for audit into universities teaching law

The director of the Law Development Centre (LDC), Mr Frank Nigel Othembi, has called for an audit into the quality of education at universities teaching law to reduce poor performance at the institution.

“We need to take a keen interest into the quality of legal education being offered by the many universities that have been accredited to offer the Bachelor of Laws,” Mr Othembi said during LDC’s 48th virtual graduation in Kampala last Friday.

“Bar course applicants were subjected to a pre-entry examinations administered by the Law Council but in 2019, the pre-entry exams were suspended for two years,” he added.

Mr Othembi said although LDC is one of the institutions that agreed to scrap the exams, they will not lower their standards. 

“We gave our stakeholders assurance that LDC would maintain the high academic standards as the final gate keeper because all the gates are open from primary to secondary to university, and we are going to play our role,” Mr Othembi said.

“This partly explains the current poor performance at the Bar course but LDC will maintain its high academic standards, ” he added.

Recently, LDC released results for the academic year 2019/2020 with a 90 per cent failure rate.
A total of 1,682 law students sat for the exams, with 70 per cent partially failing, while 20 per cent totally failed, and have since been discontinued.

Prof Fredrick Ssempebwa, the chairperson of the Committee on Legal Education and Training of Law Council, who was the chief guest, advised graduates to treat their clients as kings but not as a source of revenue. 

“How many lawyers are brave enough to tell a client that I am sorry, the instructions you are going to give me in that area, I am not competent,” Prof Ssempebwa asked.

Ms Pheona Nabasa Wall, the Uganda Law Society president, urged the graduates to be diligent and accountable to themselves and people as they go into the job market.