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.
Makerere University School of Law has hosted the Chief Justice of the Republic of Zambia, Hon. Justice Dr. Mumba Malila, who paid a courtesy call on 15th June 2026 during his official visit to Uganda to assume leadership of the African Chief Justices’ Forum on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Justice Malila was accompanied by the Chief Justice of Uganda, Hon. Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija, and a delegation from Zambian Judiciary. During the visit, the Zambian Chief Justice engaged with faculty members and students at School of Law and later paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration, Prof. Henry Alinaitwe.
Justice Malila’s visit to Uganda followed his succession of retired Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo of Uganda, who was founding Chairperson of the African Chief Justices’ ADR Forum. The Forum’s Secretariat is based in Kampala, making Uganda the venue for the formal handover of leadership and instruments of authority.
Welcoming the delegation to Makerere, the Dean of the School of Law, Prof. Ronald Naluwairo, congratulated Justice Malila on assuming the continental leadership role and pledged the School’s support towards advancing Alternative Dispute Resolution across Africa.
“As the premier Law School in Uganda, we appreciate the importance of ADR in promoting access to justice, expediting the resolution of disputes and enhancing social harmony,” Prof. Naluwairo said. He noted that ADR is now taught as a standalone course in the Bachelor of Laws programme and remains an important area of research within the School.
The Dean also emphasized the need for stronger collaboration between legal academia and the judiciary, proposing formal partnerships between Makerere University School of Law, the Judiciary of Uganda and institutions in Zambia.
In his remarks, Chief Justice Zeija described the visit as a homecoming, recalling his days as a student at Makerere University‘s School of Law. He praised the School for introducing ADR as a standalone course, observing that during his legal training, dispute resolution was largely taught through the lens of litigation.
“Academia plays a critical role in enriching jurisprudence within the judiciary,” Justice Zeija said, citing the contribution of legal scholars to landmark cases and judicial training programmes. He revealed that the Judiciary had already initiated discussions on formalizing collaboration with the School of Law through a Memorandum of Understanding.
Justice Malila, who spent many years teaching at the University of Zambia before joining the judiciary, reflected on the enduring influence of academic life and the pride lecturers feel when they see former students excel in their professions.
“I spent a long time teaching in a law school, and once you have lived the academic life, you always feel a strong connection to universities,” he said.
The Zambian Chief Justice spoke warmly about Makerere University‘s longstanding reputation as one of Africa’s leading institutions of higher learning. Recalling debates from his student days about the “Oxford of Africa,” he said Makerere‘s reputation had been built on decades of academic excellence and the outstanding achievements of its graduates across the continent.
“Makerere possesses the history, reputation, goodwill and intellectual heritage that command respect throughout Africa,” he remarked, urging the University community to continue safeguarding and strengthening its standards.
Justice Malila welcomed Makerere‘s decision to teach ADR as a standalone discipline, describing it as a significant contribution to the Forum’s efforts to promote alternative dispute resolution across Africa.
“One of the objectives of the African Chief Justices’ ADR Forum is to engage universities and colleges in disseminating knowledge and appreciation of ADR. We hope to reach a point where students can enroll specifically to study ADR and graduate as professional ADR practitioners,” he said.
He noted that many legal systems continue to focus heavily on adversarial litigation and stressed the need to prepare future legal professionals for alternative approaches to resolving disputes.
The visit also highlighted the deep historical ties between Makerere University and the legal profession across Africa. During the interaction, Justice Malila revealed that his first academic journal article was published in the East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights following encouragement from a Makerere academic, giving him a personal connection to the University.
At the conclusion of the visit, both Chief Justices emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships between universities and judiciaries in advancing legal scholarship, judicial training and access to justice.
The delegation later paid a courtesy call on Makerere University‘s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration, where discussions focused on strengthening academic and professional collaboration between institutions in Uganda and Zambia. The visit reinforced Makerere University School of Law’s position as a leading centre for legal education and research in Africa and underscored the growing role of universities in promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution as an important pillar of access to justice on the continent.
The Public Interest Law (PILAC) held its 13th Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Moot on 14th May 2026 in the Makerere University School of Law (SoL) Moot Court Room. The CLE Moot is one of the clinical activities forming part of the experiential learning approach used by PILAC in its CLE class.
This Moot gives CLE students the opportunity to build their court advocacy skills, including case research and preparation, oratory and case presentation, court etiquette and teamwork, among others. This is in addition to exposing students to emerging areas of law and legal dilemmas that require specialised legal knowledge and talent to resolve. The uniqueness of this Moot lies in the fact that it is presided over by real judges, drawing mainly from the High Court. This is a result of the collaboration between the School of Law and the Judiciary of Uganda.
The Case and Arguments
This year, the theme of the moot was, ‘Rapid Economic Liberalisation and Urban Growth as drivers of inequity, weakened accountability, strained public infrastructure, and conflict between traders and the state’.
The Moot was presided over by a panel of three High Court Judges: Hon. Lady Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga, Hon. Justice Isa Serunkuma and Hon. Lady Justice Alice Komuhangi Khaukha. The moot problem focused on two unique and interrelated issues. First were legal questions around public-private partnerships and the nature of the legal obligations they impose on the state. Second, there were questions about the state’s obligations regarding human rights abuses arising from the actions of private actors under public-private partnership arrangements.
A compelling display of legal advocacy, a mock human rights enforcement petition highlighted the rising tide of climate litigation across Africa, tackling the devastating human toll of environmental disasters and the inadequacy of state responses. The fictional case centred on a catastrophic flood that destroyed local businesses, displaced scores of traders, and tragically claimed the lives of a mother and her infant child.
At the heart of the legal arguments was the state’s defence: a flat-rate compensation package that critics argued barely scratched the surface of the community’s profound losses. The petition cut straight to a definitive and increasingly urgent question facing the African continent: When climate-related disasters hit already vulnerable communities, and the state fails in its constitutional duty to protect the right to a clean and healthy environment, what does the law actually require? The answer put forward by the petitioners was unwavering: the law requires a meaningful, comprehensive remedy—not mere sympathy, and certainly not token payments.
While climate litigation in Africa is still in its infancy, legal scholars note it is growing rapidly out of sheer necessity. As environmental obligations are too often treated by governments as aspirational goals rather than enforceable duties, the courtroom is emerging as a vital arena to bridge the gap between state promises and true accountability.
Highlights of the Competition and Recognition of Best Performers
A total of 30 students participated in the Moot, under three teams: Applicants, Respondents, and Amicus. After weeks of preparations, the students wore their lawyers’ robes and had the chance to appear before the panel of judges, each presenting their arguments in a passionate and eloquent manner.
At the end of the competition, the judges gave their feedback, expressing appreciation for the level of performance and preparedness of the teams. Some were complimented for performing better than some of the advocates who appear before the judges in court. The judges also provided tips and guidance for the purpose of enabling the students to improve their performance.
In his remarks, Professor Christopher Mbazira, the PILAC Coordinator, commended the students for their hard work and appreciated the judges for taking time off their busy court dockets to support the School in skilling the young future legal professionals. Each of the judges was recognised with a plaque of appreciation.
For his exceptional performance, Mayanja Owen was named Best Oralist of the competition. The Amicus team were recognised as the winning team from the presentations. Reflecting on the weight of the subject matter, the participating students expressed deep gratitude to the judging panel, their teammates who shared the immense burden of the case, and the instructors who guided them through weeks of demanding preparations.
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