The Law Development Centre (LDC) has attributed the high levels of failure among law students at the centre to the half-baked training and skills the lawyers receive from different universities.

According to Annet Karungi, the Head of Bar Course at LDC, the nine months spent at LDC are not enough to address the gaps of knowledge and skills that were not attained at the previous institutions.

“It is the reason we don’t have 80% of students passing at LDC; you will appreciate that we get these students from the different universities, and the grounding is extremely different,” Karungi said.

Kalungi made these remarks while appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Committee to defend the centre’s 2024/2025 Ministerial Policy Statement on March 25, 2024.

She added that the curriculum at the different universities is affecting these students and that it is a serious concern that they have always raised with the universities.

“At the moment, we admit students from 14 universities both locally and outside the country, and most of them have been made aware of the gaps,” Kalungi added.

Fox Odoi, the West Budama North East constituency Member of Parliament (MP), questioned why LDC had omitted information about the performance of students in their performance report to Parliament.

“LDC reported that 2000 students were trained, but no details were given of their performance; we need to see these numbers and their details to know who passed at the first instance, those who didn’t, those with supplementary training, and those who failed,” Odoi noted.

Anyone who wishes to become a practicing lawyer in Uganda begins by completing a four-year major in law at a Ugandan college or university, just like one would complete a major in history or chemistry. However, one needs to undertake the entry test for Kampala’s Legal Development Centre (LDC), which qualifies them to be practicing lawyers. When one passes the entry test, they join a 400-student cohort at the LDC for a one-year intensive study in areas of law, which climaxes with the Ugandan bar exam. So, between one-third and two-thirds of those sitting for the bar exam pass.