KAMPALA – The President of the Uganda Law Society Ms Pheona Wall has called upon students pursuing the legal profession to have a sense of self-discovery as a way of smoothening their transition from scholars to advocates.
Ms Wall who was presiding over the Kampala International University Law Society Annual Dinner and handover at Hilton Garden hotel in Kampala on Saturday 30th challenged the scholars to find their ‘fire’ as it would be a steering factor propelling them to being greater people.
“I urge all of you to find your fire. People have things that drive them and if you are very careful, your fire will lead you to your success in life, identifying who you are and where you come from,” she said.
She added that lawyers need to make their mark in everything because it is so sad not to be remembered.
Ms Wall further asked them to always be clear with what they stand for since with this, people will follow them.
“Embrace critiques because they push you to do better. Technology and the internet of things has pushed people into doing good work. Look for those special places where you can place yourself.”
Ms Wall who was the keynote speaker applauded the outgoing K.I.U Law Society cabinet for tirelessly working to shape the image of the society amidst the pressing challenges that they faced.
The ULS president who has a rich history with Kampala International University called upon the new cabinet not to be afraid of small steps and doing research because it finally pays off.
She explained that the outgoing President Mr Osiya Moses has left big shoes and all they have to do is to turn whatever he innovated into an institution since in building his legacy, they will be cementing theirs as well.
“I am proud of Osiya’s achievements in the Covid year. He is very persistent, aggressive and humble. Be faithful to who you are, what you stand for, who you serve and this will tell a lot about your personality. Embrace your calling and effect change, be faithful, available and teachable.”
Mr Moses Osiya the outgoing President of the K.I.U Law Society said his term in office has not been easy as it called for balancing students’ needs and administration work which is not an easy task as both parties want different things.
He explains that he learnt that one does not have to fix everything that comes in their life but fix themselves first such that whatever comes their way will be fine.
Osiya whose term was made longer by the emergency extension that was brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic paved way for handover of office when he organised scientific elections at the University when the government partially lifted the lockdown, hence the new cabinet.
“During my term in office, we managed to do the Rugero car wash, carried out moot courts, legal run, Community outreaches and the KIU Law week. These runs generated the income for most of our activities like the Moot courts,” he said.
Mr Osiya said that all these were done amidst pressing challenges especially financial constraints where he had to find funders who always chipped in to ensure the success of their activities.
“The expensive internet also hindered our communication especially in the lockdown where we could not access offices or people and had to ensure that we keep online all the time to reply and write emails. I will however highlight the Rugero Car wash and K.I.U Law Society emerging the first runners up of the Human Rights Competition of 2020 as my take home memories of my reign.”
Dr Valentine Mbeli the Dean K.I.U Law School applauded Osiya’s leadership which he described as being full of innovation and enterprise that saw him set the bar high.
He said the accomplishments for the past one year were remarkable and it has been a wonderful moment working with the old cabinet.
“The challenge of not funding the moot courts is quite difficult that the school has to find resources outside to fund the initiative. Our university has many competing needs and it is also constrained to offer help in that sector,” he said.
Mbeli added that Moot courts are not included in the fees structure but they (management) continue to mitigate ways of how they can secure funding for moot courts since they deem them a good platform for legal training.
Ms Jennifer Ameo, the new patroness of the KIU Law Society said Osiya and his cabinet have done an excellent job since they did visibility and created impact in their regime.
She challenged the new executive to do better than the pace set by their precursor. She called upon them to be humble and ready to sacrifice as this will help them get on ground fast to work for the betterment of the law society.