Mr Lubinda said he has since challenged Attorney General Likando Kalaluka, who is ZIALE board chairman, to submit a report on the matter.
Mr Lubinda, who is Kabwata Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Parliament, said the pass rate at ZIALE was unacceptable and Government would not allow it.
Speaking when he featured on a Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) programme dubbed “Government Forum”, Mr Lubinda said after receiving findings and recommendations from the board of directors of ZIALE, Government would take action.
“The Attorny General is the chair of the board, I challenge them to look at what is it that is causing this? And pretty soon they should be coming back with their findings,” Mr Lubinda said.
He said he would not close his eyes on the matter, adding that after receiving a report from the Attorney General he would engage other people to look into it and advise on the course of action to take to ensure that the pass rate was improved.
Mr Lubinda said 16 people only passing out of 360 was totally unacceptable.
“Yes, we do not want ZIALE to churn out lawyers who are less than qualified. We do not want quacks in the profession in Zambia because if you do have that then again you would be providing people poor quality legal services which is the same as denying them justice.
“However, I don’t think we can continue with that kind of low pass rate. There are certainly things that can be done – one of them has already been implemented. It is to expand the campus; there is a new campus that is being built for ZIALE to try and increase the learning space for students,” he said.
Mr Lubinda said he would give the ZIALE board some time to come up with their findings and recommendations and also borrow from the report of Parliament and find ways of ensuring that the record was better because there was need for many more qualified lawyers out on the market.
He said once there were many qualified lawyers on the market the cost of legal services would be expected to reduce.
Mr Lubinda, who also outlined new developments in the ministry, revealed that under the civil litigation department each advocate had about 400 pending cases to attend to.
A common held view is that it an industry driven conspiracy to ensure high barriers to entry and consequently maintain legal fees high. Not sure how Zambia compares globally. Similar accusations have been levelled at Zambia Institute of Architects
Bandit Lubinda~the root cause failure of the G~12 passing is PF lies, incompetence, violence, failure to follow the constitution or law, load shedding, unemployment, army worms, locusts & Lungu being visionless. Stop looking for pathetic failures~PF~excuses. Let the presidential petition be heard & blind Edgar’s must give power to the speaker according to the constitution~period.
The Skeleton Key
~206~
Compare with Nigeria Bar qualifying exams,or even Kenya.UK,South Africa. Zambia is the worst penetrated by a terrible cartel.
Is Law more difficult than medicine which takes 8years?
Attorney General is part of the conspiracy the cartel is harder than steel, Likando will undermine the minister.
Its surprising that Likando and ZIALE can walk with their heads high,in any functional country the lecturers would be sacked or interdicted. Zambia is a failed state and Ziale is a failed institution.
@ Truth Seeker
Do you realize that ALL judges of the Con. Court are “product of ZIALE?
Bad study results are caused by bad teachers and bad curricula. So the minister knows what to do.
Just rig the results and make them pass. the same method you used during the 2016 General elections. Give the student lawyers pre-marked ballots from Dubai. or ask Mu7 or mugabe
You denied Zambians justice when your party stole an election and found ways to frustrate the course of justice. So what’s point of what you saying now. Zambia needs political change
Let Given set and mark the exams we don’t want scribes like Freddie the accounts clerk from zsic shibukeni lawyer pretending he is can manage a case. We also dont want fatso ex-dpp and failed business man owing dbz billions entering noelle’s in their own matter…simply because they didn’t pass an exam but were deemed or pushed through without meeting the meritious bar to pass.
For once I agree with Lubinda – He is on the right track, in fact I will go a step further and say there is a cartel – of which Likando Kalaluka is one of them, who benefit from having too few lawyers in the game. Its sad as Zambians are being denied legal representation because of this game they are playing.
Let Ministry of Higher Education conduct Research on what were the success factors of the course whose graduates were doing well. Was it the success of Faculty, Curriculum, Facilities? Then draw conclusions on whether ZIALE is not getting the right students (garbage) for courses or not. Exam top notchers are usually second-degree holders who have finished Economics, Accountancy, Insurance & Risk Management degrees, etc. and can apply their Skills, knowledge, values, experience & Degree of accountability & responsibility.
Surely there is a problem because I have for a long time witnessed a lot School of Law graduates shunning ZIALE’s exams & Legal profession in preference to piece jobs & other professions not of their choice. Why?
When the problem is resolved, legal fees will be like booking a cab in town. And lawyers will be very cheap to hire.
Do you surely think they are ready to go that path.
K a Monopoly.
Surely how do you have such an appalling pass rate as an institution? You admit 360 people when you only want 16 is criminal. Anyways I am not surprised because those who go to do law as far as Unza is concerned do it as a second option. At undergraduate they never do accounts but are made to study accounts and finance at ZIALE which they fail lamentably. Those chaps cannot even recognize a calculator.
It’s pathetic, institution should be overhauled, all staff relocated to other ministries. Such pass rate encourages corruption and sexual abuse. ZAMBIA IS FOR ALL