Maseno University is set to admit its first cohort of Bachelor of Law (LLB) students in May after receiving clearance from the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
The University has also received accreditation from the Council for University Education (CUE) to establish a School of Law at its Kisumu City Campus.
Prof. Nicholas Wasonga Orago, the dean of the Law School said that the student’s enrollment is currently ongoing and hopes to receive a National Government placement in September.
Prof Orago affirms the university council intend to start the school of law on a strong foundation based on research and regional contemplation.
“In order for you to practice law, be a scholar or work effectively in an institution, you have to be an effective researcher. So, research will be one of our core classes we will have and encourage among our law students,’’ Prof Orago stressed during an interview with KNA.
He noted that they expect to get students from neighbouring countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo among other countries.
‘‘We hope that this will be a hub for scholars where students can come to learn and be able to progress in their careers as legal practitioners, legal academicians, and persons to work in legal areas in governmental and non-governmental organizations in the country,’’ Prof Orago stated.
He said that they are particularly looking forward to enrolling students from the East African Community and the entry mean grade requirement is C+ with a minimum of B Plain in English or Kiswahili.
To kick start the noble initiative, Orago said they will begin with the LLB program which will provide the mandatory 42-course units.
‘‘We have four qualified lecturers who are PhD. holders to teach law. They possess a wealth of experience as they have published and taught in other institutions of higher learning,’’ he said stressing that it will be a full-time physical attendance learning from 8am-5pm, with no evening classes.
Orago stressed that they will emphasize more on Legal Entrepreneurship as the law is business and practice as they hope to train and churn out law students who will become efficient managers of law firms and institutions.
‘‘Some of the law programs the institution is set to offer includes the 16 core units as per the CLE’s regulation like Constitutional law, Criminal law and Law of Evidence which will enable the law graduates to practice in the country,’’ explained Orago who is a Human Rights lawyer.
The varsity has already set up a moot courtroom, a well-stocked law library, a computer laboratory, and several lecture halls to aid in learning.
“One of the key tools that we will use to teach our students is mooting or having the practical experience of being in a court and being able to argue their cases in court. We will also have comparative learning and student exchange programs with other higher learning institutions offering law to expose our students to different modes of learning for them to grow to be substantively broad thinking in legal practice.”
By Rolex Omondi
