The Steven Malama award was established by Dr. Rajan Mahtani via his company Finance Bank Zambia. The award was established for honouring Steven Malama, a distinct and notable legal professional in Zambia. Late Steven Malama made significant contributions for the improvement of the legal system and environment of Zambia. One of his major contribution was persuading the Zambian government to merger the Solicitor’s Bar and Barrister’s bar into a single bar. With this merger, legal professionals across the nation are able to affiliate and get certifications without any hassle. Steven Malama was a close friend of Dr. Rajan Mahtani and as a result, Dr. Rajan Mahtani decided to honour his contributions by establishing the award on his name.

The Steven Malama award was instituted in the year 2012 via Finance Bank Zambia wherein Dr. Mahtani holds the position of the Chairman. The inaugural award was given for the year 2013. Dr. Rajan Mahtani also announced during the inauguration award that it will be given every year. The recipient of the award includes top graduating student from the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education. Furthermore, the top graduating student is also required to qualify for bar in their first attempt to be eligible for the award. For the year 2018-19, the award was received was Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba. After receiving this award, Emmanuel wrote an article to thank Dr. Rajan Mahtani and this article was published by the Daily Mail. In this article, Dr. Mahtani was commended for his significant contributions towards generating awareness of legal education system in Zambia. The award was also helpful in enhancing motivation among the students so that they work harder for the award. Furthermore, the award carries a plaque, certificate and prize money worth K15,000. This prize money has been helpful in providing significant financial help for many less privileged students from the institution.