Do We Need More Lawyers?
By Dickson Jere
In my class – UNZA Law School – we had three engineers. One dropped out while two completed and proceeded to ZIALE where they passed with ease. However, they never practiced the law but ended up as CEO and deputy CEO in big institutions in line with their engineering background. I am sure they used the law background in decision making as top executives.
Two weeks ago, a medical doctor, got in touch with me to get my opinion on her decision to change careers. She wants to study law and abandon medical practice.
Reasons? She is not satisfied with the working conditions where doctors work without proper infrastructure and equipment.
“I was trained to save lives but I cannot do that in the current environment,” she said to me.
My niece is a six-pointer. She had two options. Either to study law or cybersecurity. When we spoke, I advised her to go the route of cybersecurity.
“That is the future….” I told her.
She has what it takes to conquer the natural sciences. Some of us had unfinished business with “algebra, calculus, ohm’s law” and that is why we were never near natural sciences. We are the “chikwakwa” students as we were called at UNZA.
So see, lately, I have received several enquiries from topnotch professionals such as Veterinary Doctors, Engineers, Scientists who want to switch careers and join the law fraternity. Various reasons have been advanced with top being “they wanted to be lawyers since childhood ” and “law pays well”.
I changed careers myself but mine was not that difficult. Journalism and law fall within the humanities and social science space. A number of Accountants have also combined their qualifications with law, which perfectly works well especially when it comes to insolvency practice.
There is also a school of thought that was pushed heavily by my former Lecturer and boss – Professor Mphanza Patrick Mvunga, SC – that law should be a postgraduate program in Zambia. Simply, second degree like is case in most states in the US.
Anyway, my point is that I think Zambia – as a developing country – needs more engineers, doctors, scientists, metallurgists and cybersecurity experts than lawyers. We need industries and technology development than law development.
By the way, law fraternity is even flooded now to the extent that we have unemployed qualified lawyers, which never used to be the case few years ago. Sooner, we will be like Israel where one in ten Israeli is lawyer.
Similarly, in the 1990s, it was perceived lucrative to be an Accountant – ACCA and CIMA – meant good jobs. But it appears many more people have acquired these qualifications and now its survival of the fittest.
The country should pay well the doctors, engineers and the like so that we retain them. These are the ones who can transform our country in terms of development.
Have your say…
NB. Until 2010, only law students from UNZA could enrol at ZIALE. So the pool was very small and lucrative. The law changed and it is now open for all!