The Chief Justice (CJ) Bart M.Katureebe has accepted to be the patron of the Makerere University (MAK) School of Law Alumni Association. The acceptance was communicated yesterday, the 8th August, at the CJ’s chambers at the High Court in Kampala.
The CJ hosted the MAK school of law (SOL) organizing committee that has organized the 50th anniversary celebrations that will be taking place on the 12th October 2018 later this year.
The day will also be the official launch of the university SOL Alumni Association of which the CJ accepted to be patron. He will also be the chief guest of the anniversary celebrations. The association will also commission a fundraiser drive for an endowment fund for the law school.
According to the statement on the Judiciary Uganda Facebook page, the Ag. Principal of the SOL, Dr. Christopher Mbazira revealed that the CJ was chosen and accorded the recognition of Patron, and chief guest because he was the first SOL alumni to become CJ.
“My Lord, the SOL is proud to celebrate your achievement as the first Makerere Alumni to ascend to the high office of the Chief Justice of the Republic of Uganda” he said.
The CJ also accepted to have established at the university an Annual Chief Justice’s Day at the school where he will be invited with a few selected judicial officers to always interact with students and staff of the school in teaching and mentoring services, in order to promote “legal education and access to justice in Uganda.”
Some of the other activities at the anniversary will include a dinner dance, a student’s moot court competition to be done in partnership with the Supreme Court, public lectures and pro bono legal aid open day at the university.
Robert Kabushenga, heading the fundraiser also used the meeting to request the CJ to use his connection towards the day’s events to get funding from the president in constructing of a new building at the SOL.
“My Lord, my request is that you help us talk to President Museveni to give us a new building at the SOL”
School of law alumni associations
On the 20th July 2018, the Faculty of Law at Uganda Christian University (UCU) also hosted the Law Alumni at the 2nd UCU Law Alumni Homecoming, an event where similar plans were discussed.
The Faculty of Law created a smaller group of the general university alumni association.
The event was the second law alumni homecoming after the first one that had occurred in 2014.
The law alumni of UCU used the same day to elect members to constitute an interim committee for the association. The committee will be charged with the duty to manage the law alumni activities. An endowment fund to fund faculty activities such as moots, debates, and rewarding outstanding students was also created wherein the alumni made pledges to fund and sustain the fund.
MAK SOL would be the second law school in Uganda to have an alumni group away from the general alumni group of the university. The UCU Law Alumni group is however received with skepticism within the university management that feels the group would be isolating itself from the main university alumni group, the same criticism that the MAK SOL alumni association might meet on its path to law school financial independence.
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