By Jimmy Siyasa & Photos by Andrew Bugembe

Today, September 2025, a Moot team of UCU School of Law students led by Sandra Ajambo and Heather Stacey Kutamba, edged out a team from Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), winning the national rounds of the Unwanted Witness data privacy moot competitions.

UCU also took home the award of best memorial (written submission) and also the best Oralist award attained by Sandra Ajambo. Additionally, Team UCU will represent Uganda at the regional finals happening in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where they will face off contestants from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Organized by Unwanted Witness, a Ugandan not-for-profit, digital rights and safety organization, the competition brings together law students from universities in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda to debate critical legal challenges in the digital age.

The event hosted at UCU this year, featured various teams from participating Ugandan institutions engaging in oral rounds, following the written memorial stage results released on September 3, 2025. This year’s theme focused on how data privacy applies to Uganda’s National ID registration system. Participants explored the topics like data privacy in digital ID frameworks, drawing on comparative insights from the four East African countries.

The UCU School of Law is honoured to contribute to this regional platform, which not only sharpens advocacy and research skills but also promotes cross-border collaboration among students and staff. The competition’s pre-roundtable convening, held on September 8, 2025, in Tanzania, set the tone for discussions on regional trends and opportunities in digital governance.

The competition is open to all law schools in Uganda and is an opportunity for students to showcase their legal talents and learn more about the increasingly important field of privacy law. Participating in this competition gives not only UCU law students, but the rest “a chance to develop their research, writing, and advocacy skills, as well as to network with other law students and legal professionals,” according to Unwanted Witness.  

“In addition, the competition provides students with exposure to the latest legal trends and issues in privacy law, which is becoming increasingly relevant in today’s digital age.”

Prior to the finals, the Vice Chancellor, who was titular host of the event, congratulated the various students for making it to the national round semis and urged them to utilize this moot competition not just as spring board for their career aspirations.

UCU’s involvement as host reflects the university’s commitment to fostering legal excellence and innovation among students.

In 2024, UCU’s moot court team was named the best Ugandan team and won the best oralist title at the 2024 Unwanted Witness Privacy Moot Court Competition.