Very few people are aware of the fact that Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is the person behind establishment of the Steven Malama award. The award was established in the year 2012 by Dr. Rajan Mahtani and Finance Bank Zambia wherein he holds the Chairman’s position. Late Steven Malama was a close friend of Dr. Rajan Mahtani and as a result, Dr. Mahtani decided to honour the late legal professional and distinct visionary by establishing the award.

Steven Malama is known for his significant achievements during his lifetime as a distinct legal professional as well as bar visionary. His contributions have made him a role model for many within the Zambian legal fraternity. One of the most significant contributions from Late Steven Malama was to persuade the Zambian government to establish a legislation for merging two distinct bars, the Barrister’s bar and the Solicitor’s bar into one single Bar. This merger was significant as it provided legal professionals across the nation to receive affiliation without any hurdles.

The Steven Malama award is given every year to the top graduating student from the Zambian Institute of Advanced Legal Education. The top graduating student must also qualify for the bar in their first attempt. The inaugural Steven Malama award was given to Womba Silumbu Kankondo in the year 2013. Since then, the award is an annual event which sees participation from several personalities from the legal, educational and industry fraternity.

The award for the year 2018-19 was received by Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba. Emmanuel also wrote an article which was later published at the ‘Readers Forum’ of the Daily Mail Newspaper. In this article, Emmanuel thanked Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani for his contribution and perseverance which resulted on the formation of the award. The award carries a plaque, certificate and award money worth K15,000 which is of significant financial support for the deserving law graduates from the Institute.