Ugandan post-graduate law students and those from other East African countries of Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda will not be admitted to the Kenya School of Law, beginning next year.
“We have received a letter dated October 25 from the Council of Legal Education informing us that non-Kenyans are not eligible for admission to the Advocates Training Programme (ATP) at the Kenya School of Law,” reads a memo by the Kenya School of Law Chief Executive Officer Patrick Lumumba.
In an internal memo dated November 17, Prof Lumumba said the decision was made following a directive from the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
“In light of the contents of the letter, non–Kenyans should stand informed that the admission committee has not considered their applications.”
CLE Chief Executive Officer Kulundu Bitonye said the decision was arrived at after noting an error in the procedure of admitting foreigners to the institution.
Prof Bitonye said the issue was discussed at a meeting on legal sector reforms convened by the office of the Attorney-General and the Department of Justice.
But Uganda Law Society (ULS) President Francis Gimara, in a letter dated November 22 to Law Society of Kenya President Isaac Okero, said the directive is inconsistent with the spirit of liberalizing legal services in East Africa.
“Specifically, it (Kenya) made commitments on free movement of legal services and representation services in judicial procedures concerning other fields of law with no restrictions or exceptions,” the letter states.
It adds: “Further, Kenya took the lead and autonomously amended its Advocate Act to recognize and permit advocates from the region to practice law in Kenya, an act that was progressive and demonstrated good faith.”
Mr Gimara called on LSK to engage the relevant government departments in order reverse the development.
By press time it was not possible to ascertain whether there are Kenyan students pursuing their post-graduate studies at the Law Development Centre (LDC) in Kampala, and what their fate would be after the pronouncement.
