Law students are set to protest outside the Council of Legal Education (CLE) offices on Wednesday, July 10, in response to prolonged delays in their admission to the bar and other unresolved issues.
This demonstration is happening despite efforts by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President, Faith Odhiambo, to mediate the situation on Tuesday, July 9. Odhiambo met with the students and the CLE, attempting to find a resolution.
Students accuse the CLE of deliberately marking down their tests and causing unnecessary delays in their admission process. Their frustrations were further fueled by the recent release of the April 2024 Advocates Training Programme (ATP) examination results. In a statement on Tuesday, the CLE announced, “It is NOTIFIED for general information that the April 2024 Advocates Training Program (ATP) Examination results are herewith released,” and urged candidates to check their results on the online portal. The CLE directed those with enquiries to forward them to the designated examinations email.
One student voiced their frustration on the social media platform X, saying, “If the bar is full, they should just tell us.” Another student questioned the results, “We reject results published. How come marks are the same as previous?”
Faith Odhiambo, who engaged with the students on X, assured them that the CLE had uploaded the corrected April 2024 Examination Results. “I spoke to the Chairman of the CLE, and the two major concerns are being worked on,” she stated. Odhiambo added that a CLE Council team is reviewing the challenges related to examination administration and will start engaging with students to discuss potential reforms for transparency and accountability.
This unrest among students is not an isolated incident. Last year, the acting CEO Mary Mugure resigned just two days after staff went on strike over alleged mismanagement of funds by the top leadership. The staff accused the leadership of incurring questionable expenses and leaking examination papers to some candidates, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the CLE’s examination process.
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