By Amos Ssemuwemba
The Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, has offered relief to over 1,400 law graduates who missed out on admission to the Law Development Centre (LDC) in September 2024. In a recent pronouncement, Kiwanuka confirmed that these students will now be admitted on 6th January 2025, addressing a significant concern raised by Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa.
Tayebwa, during a parliamentary session, shared the plight of distressed young lawyers who have been anxiously awaiting their admission to LDC, a critical step towards obtaining their legal practice certificates. “I have received many calls from young lawyers who completed law school, and their issue is about admission to the Law Development Centre,” Tayebwa revealed. He emphasized that these graduates feared facing the same delays and struggles currently affecting medical interns, who are also waiting on government intervention to complete their training.
Tayebwa urged the government to act swiftly, citing the frustration and career stagnation these students face. “They are saying, ‘plead for us, we need Government intervention urgently, so that we can go, complete our legal practice certificate, and enter the field to do our work,’” Tayebwa said, highlighting the urgency of the matter.
In response, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka assured Parliament and the public that the affected 1,463 students would not be left behind. “The government acknowledges the significance of this issue, and the students will be admitted in the January 2025 intake,” Kiwanuka stated, offering a ray of hope to the law graduates.
This move is expected to ease growing tensions and prevent further delays in the careers of Uganda’s future legal professionals, many of whom have been preparing for months to begin their practical legal training at LDC. For these students, the announcement signals a step towards resuming their legal journeys, which had been temporarily stalled.
