Ruling Party deputy Secretary General Rose Namayanja and leader of opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi sharing a light moment at LDC
By George Bukenya
Court of Appeal Judge who is also a former Inspector General of Government, Justice Irene Mulyagonja has argued the newly graduated lawyers to always observe integrity and honest while practicing.
The Justice made the words of caution while presiding over the 51st graduation ceremony at Law Development Centre (LDC) Kampala Campus on 19th April, 2024 were a total of 1,077 graduated with a diplomas in Bar course, Human rights and general law from the three centers of Kampala, Mbarara and Lira.
Of the 1,077 total, 573 were lawyers who attained a diploma in legal practice, 280 were awarded a diploma in law while only 57 were for Human Rights.
Justice Mulyagonga said that lack of integrity and honesty is slowly ruining the difference professions including the legal one because young graduands are yearning for getting rich quickly.
“As young lawyers you should always be yearning for excellence through building your skills and adhere to the professional ethical standards, rules and regulations,” Justice Mulyagonja advised the graduands.
She also cautioned them not to always over bend on the interests of their clients and reminded them that they are officials of courts and that they should always observe the rules and regulations of the court.
The Solicitor General Francis Otooke who represented the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs who spoke before the Justice Mulyagonja the chief guest said that professional miss conduct is on the rise in legal sector he warned the grandaunts to avoid such behavior if they want to thrive well.
“ I implore you to help the public access justice because this help in the development of our economy which is now deteriorating due to fraudulent land and commercial transactions,’’ Mr. Otooke implore the young lawyers.
He also revealed that due to the backlog of cases especially in commercial courts and this has led to the tying of a total of 8 trillion something that has impacted on the economy negatively.
The LDC Executive Director Frank Nigel Othembi said that although a total of 3000 applications were received by the institution, only 16,000 were considered for the 2023 academic year and the rest were to be considered for the next year due to the inadequate resources.
Mr. Othembi said that although LDC generates good finances from its various sources, the policy doesn’t allow them to use it for development they only remit it to Uganda Revenue Authority coffers and this hinders the institution’s effective and efficient service delivery.
He also said that although a total of 2,087 students sat for the bar course, only half of those only 1,077 passed. According to the director the general performance is good taking into account the different sectors that influence performance which he didn’t mention. Students who received first class diplomas were only 58 indicating a decline from 130 compared to last year.
Among the grandaunts were NRM deputy Secretary General Rose Namayanja Nsereko, leader of opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi, former RCC for Kampala Hood Hussien and Busiro North MP Paul Nsubuga.
Joel Ssenyonyi while addressing the reporters just after the function said that the knowledge he has acquired will help him to execute his mandate and also be able to fight leaders who don’t want to follow the law by bringing them to books.