Law
School of Law Students conduct Community Engagements
“We are supposed to be moving from the league of asking ourselves what is our ranking in the country, on the continent, in the world to asking ourselves, what is that impact in society which is clearly attributed to Makerere” These were words of Mr. Yusuf Kiranda, University Secretary – Makerere University during a stakeholder engagement event on the 25th November 2021, one of the events that the university will host to mark 100 years of Makerere’s journey.
Relating to the call by the University Secretary, the Makerere University, School of Law (SoL) is providing services responsive to societal needs through Externships. Externships introduced in 2013 by the SoL through the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) are legal aid clinics, in which students are grouped and placed in various learning environments including partner offices or communities to provide legal support and community literacy. The students also get the opportunity to appreciate real life cases and provide legal advice under the supervision of a Lecturer/Advocate. By so doing students see the relevance or even inadequacy of the law alone on solving of client problems.
Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) is a premier University Based Law Clinic in Uganda affiliated to Makerere School of Law. It was established in 2012 and is accredited to provide legal aid services by Uganda Law Council. PILAC uses hands-on experiential learning to teach future lawyers attached to Makerere School of Law skills and techniques of solving cases using non-legal and legal solutions with a human rights face-social justice and public interest lawyering.
This year, 30 3rd year students offering Clinical Legal Education (CLE) elective have been placed in four (4) groups in slum communities: Katanga, Kivulu, Kikubamutwe and Kimombasa. These are all communities adjacent to the university and with various legal needs. The externship in Katanga was held on the 16th December, 2021 where the students were accompanied by Ms. Diana Ahumuza Ateenyi, Lecturer at the SoL.
The SoL team found members of the community already assembled and ready for the engagement. In her opening remarks, Ms. Keloyi Kabahweza, Community Liaison for PILAC in Katanga Slum welcomed the SoL team and thanked PILAC for supporting the community. Ms. Kabahwezi expressed appreciation of the legal aid services offered which the community would not otherwise afford.
Ms. Ahumuza as Team Leader from SoL introduced the members in the Makerere University, SoL team. She thanked the community for the warm welcome extended and time keeping. She further explained that the main issue to be discussed at this meeting was business and the law including saving groups and how to establish them legally. Ms. Ahumuza stressed that while business was the main issue of discussion, other legal questions from the community would be attended to.
Students presented to the community how to establish saving groups/ SACCOS highlighting the legalities entailed. The confidence exhibited by the students was encouraging despite the use of Luganda as the local language for better understanding by the community. The members of the community attending remained attentive throughout the meeting and asked multiple questions. Some of the issues arising during the discussions included: registering SACCOS and the red-tape involved, documentation and record keeping, trust among members, preparing constitutions for SACCOS and money lending.
Other issues discussed included: Wills and succession, Police bond, Money Lenders Act, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse and domestic violence. The members reiterated their appreciation of the services provided by SoL/PILAC and advised that leaders require special training. It was noted that many times, the leaders abuse the law and take advantage of their vulnerable constituents; they often side with wrong-doers as well as selling community property like land.
In her closing remarks, Ms. Diana Ahumuza advised the community that PILAC doors are open to all those persons who require further assistance. She further explained that services are free and everybody is welcome.
It should be noted that:
- Practical experiences or stories from the clients in the communities, are a great tool of awakening the law students analytical skills, problem solving skills and appreciation of the applicability of the law.
- Students are very committed to these activities and find them very enriching to their legal career
- There is dire need for legal aid services in the communities, hence the need for more interventions and strategic partnerships to deepen the intervention.
- Services provided by PILAC are affected by the following challenges: limited financial support from the university to implement PILAC activities; the closure of the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) has affected PILAC’s activities which are donor funded; Covid-19 pandemic remains a big challenge,the team endeavours to adhere to the SOPs when executing community activities; and transportation needs, since the PILAC van is on high demand because of the various demands from activities implemented.
Law
China-Africa Forum for Law School Deans ends with Partners’ committing to enhanced collaboration
On 5th November 2024, Law School Deans, Academicians, researchers and students from Africa and China met at School of Law (SoL), Makerere University in Kampala Uganda for the 6th China-Africa Forum for Law School Deans. The Forum themed, ‘Legal Guarantee and Educational Support for High-Quality Development of China-Africa’ was hosted by SoL in partnership with Renmin University of China and Xiangtan University, China.
This forum was proposed at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in 2021 in Dakar, Senegal, The resultant Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) explicitly proposed to support holding the China-Africa Forum of Law School Deans to among other things: encourage and assist China-Africa Universities in jointly building China-Africa legal research centres; training of legal professionals; and promoting China-Africa exchanges and cooperation for legal knowledge and legal talents.
In his remarks, Dr. Ronald Naluwairo – Associate Professor and Principal, SoL welcomed participants to SoL, Makerere University and Uganda. ‘SoL opened its doors in 1968 and has grown into one of the greatest schools of law in Africa and enjoys global recognition for its work’, he said. He thanked Xiangtan University, China with who Makerere has a memorandum of understanding for the collaboration that started in 2014 and introducing the other partners present. He expressed hope that at the end of the meeting, tangible areas of collaboration supporting social justice will be defined for the partners; and a compilation of a report of the papers presented for knowledge transfer and policy development.
Professor Henry Alinaitwe – Deputy Vice Chancellor/Finance & Administration, Makerere University represented the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. He welcomed participants and encouraged them to tour Uganda, Pearl of Africa before departure for an appreciation of Uganda’s beauty. ‘Teaching of the law can contribute to social transformation of our people in Africa and China. This is therefore an important platform for discussion improvements in legal education for both Africa and China’, he said. Professor Alinaitwe thanked the partners for choosing Makerere to host and hoped for productive, enlightening deliberations during the forum which will lead to enhancement of the collaboration.
The forum was officially opened by His Excellency, Ambassador Zhang Lizhong – Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Uganda. Ambassador Lizhong expressed pleasure at seeing the participants from China and Africa in the room to support the China-Africa collaborations which have built synergy with multiple plans and strategies. He explained that in Uganda alone, China continues to export promotion, infrastructure development (roads, dams, and airport) among others. He noted that there has been an increase of people exchange between China and Africa and it is therefore important that the nations understand better the legal setups for better collaboration and development mutually beneficial to all. ‘I thank Makerere for the support of the collaboration and I hope to see development of legal research centres as outlined in the Accra Action Plan’ the ambassador noted.
Presentations by participants through the day culminated into proposal of the following as key issues for further consideration and development:
- Recognition that legal education and legal exchanges are essential foundations of friendly cooperation between China and Africa and the China-Africa Forum of Law School Deans is an effective platform to promote the cooperation. The Forum will therefore be held regularly.
- Expand the scope, enhance effectiveness and impact of the Forum.
- Establish exchange mechanisms to promote cooperation, including joint international conferences and co-publish academic journals.
- Encourage law teachers’ research cooperation among faculty to improve research quality and facilitate mutual visits.
- Promote friendly exchanges among young legal professionals, providing support for their studies and exchanges at partner institutions
- Collaborate of developing educational programmes, including courses on comparative studies of China-African legal systems.
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