•FIRST Lady Esther Lungu hugs her daughter, Chiyeso after she was admitted to the Bar as a lawyer in Lusaka yesterday as President Edgar Lungu and Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima (left) look on.
Picture by JEAN MANDELA

By CHUSA SICHONE –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu and First Lady Esther yesterday joined hundreds of parents in witnessing their children being admitted to the Bar as lawyers.
Chiyeso Lungu, National Guidance and Religious Affairs Minister Godfridah Sumaili’s daughter, Sharon, Sumaili and United Party for National Development Choma Member of Parliament Cornelius Mweetwa were among the 312 new lawyers admitted to the Bar at the joyous occasion.
The admission to the Bar of the 312 lawyers has resulted in the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) membership growing to the record high of 1, 455 while the lawyer-client ratio still stands at one to 10,000.
President Lungu, the First Lady and Rev Sumaili were visibly overjoyed at their children’s achievement and they expressed their happiness by hugging the new entrants to the Bar coupled with presenting them with gifts.
Other parents, guardians, siblings and children were equally ecstatic at the graduation of their loved ones some of whom caused laughter by shouting words such as “That’s my husband!” and “More money!” after the master of ceremony called out the names.
This was during the final and sixth day of the Call Day at Supreme Court Grounds where the First Family and Chief Justice Irene Mambilima participated throughout the certificate presentation ceremony.
The 312 newly-admitted lawyers were part of the 612 from various high learning institutions who had sat for the December 2017 repeaters Bar examinations at the Zambia Institute for Advanced Legal Education.
LAZ president Eddie Mwitwa said the growth of the LAZ membership was significant as compared to 800 members five years ago.
“The number of our members is, in my view, nonetheless a far cry when one considers that the population of Zambia is now around 15 million, which would translate, from the lawyer’s Mathematics, to one lawyer servicing at least 10,000 clients at a time,” Mr Mwitwa said.
Mr Mwitwa said in view of the given statistics, he urged lawyers to consider offering pro bono legal services to the poor in society through the Legal Aid Board, the National Legal Aid Clinic for Women or the LAZ Legal Aid Committee.
Mr Mwitwa said the decision to soldier on by the 312 graduates after failing previous Bar examinations epitomised good qualities of all advocates as they had demonstrated resilience, perseverance, tenacity, patience, courage and confidence in their own abilities.