We are equipped to teach law, says Moi University VC Ayiro

Moi University has dismissed the move by the Council for Legal Education (CLE) to bar it from offering undergraduate law courses, saying it had met all the requirements.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Laban Ayiro said that, among others, the administration has built a 6,000-seater ultra-modern library and an amphitheatre, a requirement by CLE.

The university has also set up four more lecture halls complete with fibre optic connectivity for law students with 200 ICT units.

“I can confidently say that there’s no law school in Kenya whose library and facilities can match those of Moi University,” Prof Ayiro said during the university’s 35th graduation ceremony on Wednesday.

LAW STUDENTS
A public notice by the CLE chief executive officer, Prof W. Kulundu-Bitonye, that listed 12 institutions that are allowed to teach law, left out Moi University for the second year running.

The latest move by CLE, which is effective this month, had caused confusion among law students at the university as they cannot sit examinations to be admitted to the Bar.

But Prof Ayiro sought to reassure the students that all was well.

He said his administration has also set up an additional seven faculties of law school, one of CLE’s requirements.

“I feel saddened when we are shown in a bad light,” Prof Ayiro lamented.

“We have done a lot and we have to be allowed our right to offer law, as one of the leading universities in Kenya.”

APPROVED
The universities allowed to teach law include Riara (main campus), whose licence is valid until November 9, 2021, Africa Nazarene (May 29, 2019) and the University of Nairobi’s Parklands campus (August 7, 2019).

Others are UoN Mombasa campus (January 19, 2021), Kabarak (September 8, 2020), Egerton (February 12, 2021) and Strathmore (November 9, 2021).

The graduation, at which 4,769 students graduated, was attended by Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno and Kesses MP Swarup Mishra.