KAMPALA, UGANDA: City Lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde has trashed the decision taken by Law Development Center (LDC) to hold a virtual graduation ceremony amidst an open economy labeling the institution as a ‘graveyard’ and ‘white elephant’ for always taking wrong decisions.
In a statement released earlier this week, the Academic Registrar LDC, Mr. Everest Turyahikayo revealed that physical attendance at the forthcoming 49th graduation slated for Friday, July 29 will be limited to only students who scored First Class post-graduate diplomas and a section of guild cabinet members.
“As you are aware, the 49th graduation ceremony, which will be held at LDC on July 29 is both physical and virtual. For the academic year 2020/2021, physical attendance will be for all candidates with First Class post-graduate diploma in legal practice,” Mr. Turyahikayo’s communique that went viral on social media reads in part.
“All other students will attend the ceremony virtually,’’ the statement added.
The statement further stated that other categories of students to be allowed into the premises of the institution are the top 10 performing students in Diploma in Law and Diploma in Human Rights, recipients of various awards, guild members, and parents/guardians of the aforementioned categories of the students.
The above communication raised a spate of reactions from the students querying the decision taken by the administration to opt for a virtual graduation yet the economy is fully open and events are unrestricted according to the Ministry of Health Covid-19 guidelines.
According to some of the disgruntled students, the move taken by the institution has been labeled as being discriminatory and unfair because other graduating institutions including the government-owned Makerere University are holding mass graduation functions physically.
One of the students, Ms. Agather Atuhaire, a veteran journalist took to Twitter to question LDC’s decision to deny students a chance to physically attend the graduation ceremony, despite having endured pains of attending online classes as well as physical lessons.
“We would like LDC to give us reasons why we can’t be physically at our graduation ceremony. Physical celebrations are important to people to celebrate with their colleagues and parents, after all the hard work but especially after the traumatic experiences at LDC,” Atuhaire tweeted.
Defending the aggrieved students, Lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde backed the complaint raised by Ms Atuhaire saying this is yet another manifestation of LDC’s incorrigible corruption and insensitivity to its clients.
Through his official Twitter Account, Ssemakadde accuses LDC of conniving to diddle thousands of students out of their money disguising in the pretext of delivering a virtual graduation, yet two days later, on Sunday 31st July, the same institution will hold an open sports gala that is expected to attract thousands of its alumni with no restriction.
“If LDC management is genuinely motivated by an alleged spike in COVID-19 cases, why haven’t they stopped conducting physical classes & examinations? Why did they ignore well-known COVID-19 mitigation measures that would have enabled popular graduation despite the alleged spike?” Ssemakadde wondered.
“Frankly, this is yet another manifestation of LDC’s incorrigible corruption and insensitivity to its clients. The 51-year-old institution continues to operate as a state-backed cabal or cartel, in an era of ubiquitous liberalization. It’s a stark oddity in the education sector,” he added.
According to Ssemakadde, “The solution to these endless injustices is to dismantle LDC’s monopoly of the compulsory post-graduate diploma in legal practice, and give LLBs options in the path to a versatile legal career. Through LDC, @GovUganda may control the bar exam, but not tuition or graduation fees.”
The celebrated city lawyer also exposed LDC’s exploitation of its students in a shocker script of exorbitant charges charged by the institution which he says is unfair and unreal, especially during these hard economic times.
LDC Defends self
In a statement released on Tuesday, the LDC Public Relations Office defended the decision to hold the graduation ceremony virtually saying the uncertainty and the unpredictable Covid-19 situation in the country triggered their stance on the matter.
“The lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic have led to evolution of new normal. Indeed, the 48th graduation ceremony in 2021 was a wholly virtual/online and all the students of Academic Year 2019/20, who passed the course at first sitting, graduated virtually,” the statement reads in part.
The statement adds that whereas LDC would have loved to conduct a physical ceremony, there is no statutory or another legal requirement for a graduation ceremony to be held physically.
Mr Frank Nigel Othembi, the director of LDC when approached for a comment on the development said they were simply implementing the decision made by the Management Committee, which is the highest decision-making organ of the institution.
“The Management Committee claimed that bringing more than 5,000 grandaunts together amid the rising number of Covid cases wasn’t wise,” he said, adding that the graduation fee is Shs200,000 and not Shs400, 000 as some students interpreted.
He said the other Shs200, 000 is for the transcript which is collected after the event.
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