The Law Development Centre (LDC) is struggling with a skyrocketing number of students applying for law courses. 

The development is believed to have been caused by the liberalisation of legal education and the suspension of pre-entry exams.

LDC director Frank Nigel Othembi says having about 2,000 students on the Bar course and 1,000 undertaking other law courses from the three campuses of Kampala, Mbarara and Lira is not quite a manageable number for excellent results.

Frank Nigel Othembi Director of Law Development Centre addressing journalists during the 51st Graduation Ceremony at Law Development Centre in Kampala on April 19, 2024.

While addressing 872 graduates at LDC in Kampala on Friday, April 19, 2024, Othembi said the available human and material resources are not enough to cater to the increasing number of students doing law courses. 

Among the graduands was Leader of Opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi.

"The number of students in a firm has been increasing and they cannot be trained properly since they need thorough attention from the lecturers,’’ he said.

Accordingly, poor performances and retakes in second years have risen because of big numbers which explains that students do not get the required attention.

 "As a profession, we need a serious discussion about managing these numbers because everyone wants to study law now,’’ he said.

(L-R) Micheal Wakubirwa Sekandi, Noreen Kamusiime, Rose Namayanja Deputy Secretary General for National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Sande Rogers Bwanga jubilating after graduating from Law Development Centre during the 51st Graduation Ceremony at Law Development Centre in Kampala on April 19, 2024.

Namayanja leaves transformed

National Resistance Movement (NRM) deputy secretary general Hon Rose Namayanja Nsereko, who was also graduating, said that law is a noble profession that does not leave people the same way.

"As a politician, it is a professional discipline that resonates well with what we do in politics,’’ she said.

Nsereko said the course has improved her work because she has been able to analyse various strategies and laws her party has championed.

"This is a training ground for the young generation and I wish each discipline in universities gets an equivalent of what we go through at LDC to improve on the work ethic of the country,’’ she explained.