Trouble is brewing between the Government and UNIMA after the latter refused to abolish the fourth year law class at Chancellor College to pave way for the forthcoming Malawi Institute of Legal studies.

According to inside sources, the government has finalised amendments of a bill on Legal Education and Practitioners Act which will see the establishment of the Institute at Mpemba in Blantyre.

The bill is going to be tabled in November and there is a political will to see it passing at all cost.

The institute shall be responsible for offering post graduate studies including practical legal training to all those aspiring to practise law in Malawi.

The bone of contention is on government’s directive that Chancellor College must abolish its fourth year class as the same courses that are offered by the College would be offered by the Institute.

UNIMA has brushed off the idea insisting that it does not train law graduates for the courts only but for all sectors including NGOs, Financial sector, Activism and many more.

The arrangement has brought uncertainty among the students as rumours are circulating that the Institute might be operational by the beginning of January.

This has brought anxiety among the current fourth year students as they feel it is going to be unfair for them to spend another year of studying the very same stuff they have already done in fourth year.

“The whole idea of the Institute is confusing, why is there no transition?” queried the students during a General Assembly.

It is believed that the mighty forces behind the Institute have made it clear that the Institute would be running come January.

The Institute according to the bill; shall be responsible for its own funding as the government shall not be responsible for funding.

Sources have said the fees might range from K1 to K1.5 million per year which has left students gasping for oxygen.

The Institute shall admit students from other accredited Institutions and all those who studied law abroad but failed the Malawi law examinations.

It is believed that some Constituent colleges of UNIMA have applied for accreditation to offer law too, like the Polytechnic which intends to offer Bachelor degree in Commercial law.

“The idea of the Institute is a good one. It is sometimes difficult to get practical legal training in these law firms, but to find K1.5m is a big challenge,” lamented one student.

The students have appealed to the authorities for transition.

“We came here for an honours degree why should we now be told that our training ends in third year and leave with an ordinary degree. Let there be a transition so that those coming next year should be the ones going to the Institute.

Let the Institute run side by side with the fourth year and let the others go there” protested some students who were told that the government has shot down that idea saying that the arrangement might look like discrimination.

Government has already started recruiting staff for the Institute. It is still not clear if the current fourth year students who have already done all the courses would be spared from this Institute.