Will Tanzania finally win or come closer to winning the global moot court contest this year having been in the race consecutively for over 30 years?
The answer rests with the 24 year old law student at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) who will lead the country’s team to the competition slated for Washington, USA next month.
“We have high expectations to win. I am very positive because we are determined”, said Emmanuel Bakilana, a fourth year student at the university’s School of Law.
He spoke shortly after UDSM was declared the winner of the national contest to pick the country’s winner who will represent Tanzania in the Jessup Moot Court Competition which was conceived by the Havard Law School in the 1960s.
A team of five students from the country’s oldest university led by Mr. Bakilana defeated their counterparts from the Mwanza-based St. Augustine University of Tanzania (Saut) during the finals held in Arusha last week.
In all, four local universities participated in the competition now administered globally by the International Law Students Association (ILSA), a sister organization of the American Society of International Law.
Each year, over 550 law schools from more than 80 countries participate in the Jussup Competition, representing more than 2,000 students worldwide.
Mr. Bakilana, the grandson of one of the 14 law students who founded UDSM in 1961, said his team was fully preparing for the Washington meet and that they were sharpening their understanding of the international law.
He said although his university had not come closer to winning the prestigious Jessup Moot Court Competition, it had performed well in regional competitions, including the one organized in 2013 in Arusha.
This year’s national contest for the global race held March 3rd was hosted at the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (AfCPHR) and organized by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC).
The National Coordinator of Jessup Moot Court Mr. Pasience Mlowe, who is a researcher with LHRC, said UDSM has been representing Tanzania in the contest since early 1980s because there was only one local university offering legal degree course.
From 2009, however,the Mwanza-based university has been participating in the race and in 2010 managed to be among the top 50 universities in the world.
“Only a South African university has managed to be among the top five”, he said, adding that one of the good performers in Africa has been the Catholic University in Nairobi.
Speaking at the end of the event, AfCHPR Registrar Dr. Robert Eno said the Court was proud to be associated with the competition which is geared to instill in students an understanding of international law.