LDC failures irk Museveni

Aug 03, 2009

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has directed the management of the Law Development Centre (LDC) to address the high number of failures at the institution.

By Francis Kagolo

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has directed the management of the Law Development Centre (LDC) to address the high number of failures at the institution.

The message was contained in a speech read by the deputy Attorney General, Fred Ruhindi, during LDC’s 31st graduation ceremony on Friday. A total of 653 students graduated.

“I commend the ability and capacity of LDC to offer tailor-made courses. I commend your efforts to maintain high quality training and high academic and professional standards, despite the challenges faced. However, the big number of failures in the Bar course is of concern,” the president said.

This follows continuous public outcry over the high failure rate of students on the legal practice (Bar) course at the centre.

Recently, only 64 students out of 405 passed all the papers.

The institution recently dismissed 114 students after they failed the legal practice exams, according to the deputy director, Percy Night Tuhaise.

Established in 1970, the centre is the only institution in Uganda mandated to admit graduate lawyers for a diploma in legal practice. No lawyer can practice as an advocate in Uganda without this diploma.

Dickens Kagarura, the former guild speaker, said more than 1,000 students had been dismissed in two years. He attributed the failures to poor and inadequate facilities at the institution.

He gave an example of the library that was meant to accommodate only 60 students, adding that it also had few relevant reading materials.

“You find students loitering on the verandah because they have nowhere to conduct research,” he told the congregation.

The centre was originally intended to accommodate about 120 students but it currently admits over 600 every year. Elijah Wante, the institution’s director, said this has strained its resources.

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