WFP director Othembi retires after 12 years of service

The director of the Legal Development Center (LDC), Frank Nigel Othembi, has left the institution after 12 years at the helm. Monitor has learned.

On Wednesday evening, Othembi confirmed to this publication that his term had ended on April 30 and noted that his successor would be named as soon as possible.

“Yes, it is true that my term expired at the end of April after 12 years of service. I hope that a new director will be appointed shortly,” he stated.

Earlier in the week, Othembi commended LDC staff for the support provided during his tenure.

“I will be leaving the center after 12 years of service as director. “I thank you for your commitment and support in promoting A Tradition of Legal Excellence,” he wrote in his statement to his staff.

He added: “The WFP management committee met and took the necessary steps to appoint a new director, who will be informed in due course. Wish you all the best.”

Othembi’s tenure will be remembered, among others, for having the highest failure rate of law students at the prestigious Bar, reaching 80 percent.

Similarly, his leadership was rocked by major cases of examination malpractice at the institution, a move that led to the creation of a forensic committee to investigate massive allegations of irregularities in its examination processes and results.

Massive examination malpractice was reported between the academic years 2004/05 and 2010/11, when prominent politicians Fred Mukasa Mbidde and Michael Mabikke petitioned the court, challenging the forensic audit of LDCs that had declared their fake and invalid graduate diplomas.

Looking at the other side of the coin, it was during his tenure that LDC decentralized the institution by opening two branches in the interior of the country in the cities of Lira and Mbarara and a third campus to be opened in the eastern city of Mbale later this year .

At press time it was not clear where Othembi, a former magistrate before being appointed head of LDC, was going after LDC.