In a first landmark step for the legal fraternity in East Africa, the newly formed Law Students Association of East Africa has elected its inaugural president. Gideon Mwanje, a 24-year-old law student at Nkumba University in Uganda, was sworn in as president during a ceremony at the Fairway Hotel, Kampala, on July 26.
LSAEA was established as an umbrella body for all law students associations within Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The central objectives are to promote cooperation and sharing of ideas in matters concerning the law between these countries. His election into this important position marks a landmark moment in this association and displays great hard work and inputs to the legal fraternity in Uganda.
The presidency of LSAEA is supposed to rotate among member countries so that, in time, each East African nation would be represented equitably. Mwanje shall preside over LSAEA for a one-year term before the presidency is passed on to another member country’s representative.
The ceremony was graced by, among other notable members in the East African legal community, Bernard Oundo, president of the Uganda Law Society and former president of the East Africa Law Society, among others. Oundo played a key role in the said ceremony of swearing in new executive members of the LSAEA, as provided for by the constitution of the organization.
Over 60 student leaders in law, and also university lecturers from across the country, attended the meeting. Esther Odipo Ayoo, the KLSA president, was elected as the LS-EAEA vice president. Other members to be inducted into office were Rwanda’s Frederic Kwihangana who was appointed as speaker and Samwel Ngelela from Tanzania as the general secretary.
In his speech, Oundo urged the law students to consider cross-border practice, citing huge opportunities that exist in these countries across East Africa. He implored the emerging legal professionals to reach out in creating a regional legal fraternity.
He promised to unify law students within the region and expand the membership of LSAEA by admitting students from South Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mwanje pledged to support the aforementioned countries in creating national law student associations, which he said would ease their incorporation into LSAEA.
He is also the tutor general in the Nkumba University guild government, the renowned leadership and legal researcher. He has written several, over 15 to be precise, law blogs featured on the Nkumba University website and formed several societies, among which include the Nkumba University Moot Court Society, the Nkumba University Law Students Journal, and the Nkumba University Law School Magazine. His lecturer, Dr Suzan Nakanwagi, commended him for being proactive, respectful, and dedicated.
The appointment is a milestone achievement for Mwanje and is testimony to the rising influence Ugandan students have within the East African legal fraternity.
