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KIU Law Society Vice President Emeritus Winnie Kabalisa Eyes Court Martial as Her Legal Dream Draws Closer

  • Obinna Obinna
  • September 22, 2021, 11:56 am
KIU Law Society Vice President Emeritus Winnie Kabalisa Eyes Court Martial as Her Legal Dream Draws Closer

By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU Main Campus - Now that she is in her last semester at the School of Law, former KIU Law Society vice President, Winnie Kabalisa is seeing her lifelong dream of serving in the Army closer than ever despite disruptions caused by COVID-19. She wants to be in the Court Martial in the next few years.

Inspired by the desire to become self-reliant, Kabalisa, 24, has for long admired to serve in the military. She says joining the army is a dream that she has and will continue working for no matter the discouraging advice she has always received from relatives and friends.

"My dream has always been to join the Army and I will work towards it. Many people keep discouraging me but I don't care because I know one day I have to work in the Court Martial," Kabalisa discloses.

It was the burning desire to serve in the Army that Kabalisa opted to pursue a Bachelor of Laws, the environment around her also played a great role in the direction she is taking. She grew up in a community where lawyers were as common as dust. Her home in Makerere is next to the Law Development Centre where she would regularly see learned individuals whose conduct and way of life she easily admired before joining KIU in August 2017

"My home is near the Law Development Center. I grew up seeing lawyers, well dressed and ever smart, so I admired them however much my initial dream was to serve in the Army," Kabalisa admits.

"I was surely exposed to the law and there was no way I could avoid it. Even during my senior six vacation, I worked at a photocopier who used to sell law hand-outs and other documents," she adds.

Despite falling for law, Kabalisa is yet to divorce her lifelong dream of serving in the National Army. She is now aiming at joining the Army as a lawyer from where she wants to advance to the court Martial.

The 24-year-old believes KIU has offered her everything it takes to triumph elsewhere in life. From students leadership to lecturer-student engagements, Kabalisa has reaped exposure, self-esteem, teamwork and other interpersonal skills that she thinks will eventually add light to her bright future.

"I've had all the opportunities that I really needed," she says

Besides serving as vice president of the KIU law Society, an association that Unites all law students at the University, Kabalisa was a Principal Coordinator of Forum for Ideas, the University's ultimate students think tank. She is proud of the fact that she successfully balanced her leadership responsibilities and academics.

"I managed to do everything well at the right time. I had it in my mind that a leader has to lead by example. Whereas you lead well, you also have an academic goal to pursue. That's how I was able to make it," Kabalisa reflects.

Due to disruptions caused by COVID-19, Kabalisa and colleagues have now spent five years at Law school, meaning that her class has pursued legal practice for six years if she joins the Law Development Centre at the end of this year.