By Dalton Mujuni
“There is no congestion at the top, but it’s not easy to get there.”
Three of Uganda Christian University (UCU) Alumni squeezed through that bottleneck at the Law Development Centre (LDC) graduation on June 11, in Kampala. The LDC is the only institution in Uganda that offers the Bar Course leading to the award of the post-graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
The three alumni, Munanura Donald, Ayebazibwe Edger and Gloria Wanyeze, completed the Bachelor of Laws in 2019 and made UCU Shine after winning prizes as the best students at the graduation.
· Munanura Donald emerged as the fourth overall best student in the bar course, qualifying him for the Uganda Law Society Prize.
· Ayebazibwe Edgar and Gloria Wanyeze won the Director of Public Prosecutions Prize and Inspector General of Government (IGG) Prize, respectively, signifying their excellence in Criminal Proceedings and Trial Advocacy.
Despite the victory of these three, this year at the LDC, an unprecedented 90 percentage of the students failed the bar course because challenges attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic
“Students were severely hit by the global Covid-19 effects like the lockdown, but nevertheless the other issue was admitting students without subjecting them to pre-entry examinations,” said Mr. Frank Nigel Othembi, the LDC Director.
Donald said his accomplishment was a dream come true because he had never anticipated himself becoming the Fourth best student in the LDC Bar Course; he attributed this victory to God’s Grace.
“What this means to me is that, I see my efforts paid off and it makes me really happy,” he said. “I remember when I was still studying, I used to joke with my friend that when results come out my name would be at the top.”
He stressed that UCU played a major role in his success because of its fully fledged infrastructure like the library and the quality teaching staff.
“We would have access to each and every book we would need to acquire the necessary knowledge,” he said. “We also had the best lecturers of law who cultivated an outstanding niche in us.”
Donald, one of four children who hails from Mbarara, aspires to own his own law firm in not more than five years.
Meanwhile, Gloria Wanyeze expressed her joy in attaining the IGG prize saying that it is a stepping stone she had hoped to achieve in her legal journey.
“The Prize gives me momentum to face bigger battles knowing that the journey still continues and it also puts me in a place to appreciate the journey behind me,” said Wanyeze.
Like Donald, Gloria also attributes her bigger percent of success to UCU. She said, “UCU made me whole by instilling in me skills that I could never have found in other Universities. It built my integrity and enhanced my Christian leadership skills as an additional package to my knowledge of the Law, which has put me high above others.”
Wanyeze, who hails from eastern Uganda, is an advocate working under the litigation department of Crystal Advocates Kampala, and she envisions herself as a big corporate and commercial lawyer in Company Matters.
Edger applauded UCU for the greatness and wholeness it cultivated in him. “What makes the difference between us and other students is the fact we are really complete in all aspects of life like leadership, speech, writing which we studied as foundational studies,” said Edgar.
The LDC was established in 1970 by the Law Development Centre Act as a government-owned institution of higher learning responsible for research, law reform, publications, law reporting and community legal services.