Ruth Muhawe, Best Overall Student, School Of Law
Ruth Muhawe is the best overall Law student set to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws degree. We are delighted to share her story, her experience while at the School of Law, more so her journey through the Clinical Legal Education class. Clinical Legal Education is an innovative, practical, hands on experiential learning methodology that is firmly taking root in the School of Law, thereby producing the best products in the field
Ruth has graduated at the top of her class with a CGPA of 4.38, Second Class Honors – Upper Division. She is currently pursuing her post-graduate diploma in law at the Law Development Centre. She attended Entebbe Christian School for her primary education and Kings’ College, Budo for both her O’ and A’ level .
While at the School of Law, Ruth participated in a number of other academic activities beyond the lecture room. She was an active member of the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) throughout her undergraduate studies and is a proud alumnus of the CLE Class of 2019. As a selected member of the class, she attended the Summer School on Business and Human Rights hosted by the University of Zurich in July 2019.
Because of her great passion for moot court and the School’s vibrant Moot Society, Ruth had the opportunity to represent the University at the 4th Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competitions hosted by CEHURD in 2017 and the 27th All Africa Moot Court Competitions 2018 in Accra, Ghana, both of which she won. She also emerged best oralist at the national rounds of the 2020 JESSUP moot competition. Ruth served as Deputy Editor in Chief of the Makerere Law Journal for the year 2018/2019 during which she published a paper on the human rights impact of Uganda’s sovereign debt. In her final year, she joined the pioneer team of research fellows at the Centre for Law and Emerging Technologies where she also volunteered as student coordinator for the class of 2020.
Ruth attributes her good performance to “the basic things like attending class and taking notes.” She also highlights the immense wealth of knowledge and expertise possessed by the faculty at the School, which she says most students do not exploit and only come to appreciate after they have left the University. When asked about her ability to balance a number of activities and yet maintain good grades, she emphasized the importance of discipline: “…passion is one thing. But it is amazing how much of life actually turns on discipline.”
