Blow to DIG Masengeli as court declines to stop USIU graduation over PhD suit
Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Gilbert Masengeli suffered a blow after the High Court declined to halt the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) graduation ceremony scheduled for September 26.
Lady Justice Nyaundi Patricia also declined to order the university to include Masengeli in the graduation list, pending the hearing and determination of his main petition challenging the handling of his PhD studies.
The judge said Masengeli had failed, at this stage of the proceedings, to demonstrate that he had a legitimate expectation of graduating with his cohort.
Justice Nyaundi said she had considered the communication between Masengeli and his supervisor but found no clear promise from either the supervisor or the university that he would be included in the September 26 graduation.
“I am not persuaded that there was a promise by the supervisor or by the university that the applicant would be part of the graduation of 26th September 2026,” the judge ruled.
“I do not see a clear promise by the university,” she added.
The judge ruled that stopping the graduation would have ramifications for other students and said she had therefore considered whether Masengeli had established a legitimate expectation to be included in the graduation list.
She relied on several authorities on conservatory orders and legitimate expectation, including a Supreme Court decision in Communications Commission of Kenya and five others versus Royal Media Services and five others.
Justice Nyaundi said a legitimate expectation must be founded on a promise, representation or established practice by a public authority that it has the power to fulfil.
“In the circumstances, I do not consider that it is in the public interest to suspend the graduation as has been sought by the applicant,” she ruled.
The judge also declined Masengeli’s alternative request to have his name included in the graduation list at the interim stage.
“Accordingly, the alternative order is also declined. In the circumstances, the application is dismissed,” Justice Nyaundi ruled.
The dismissal, however, does not end Masengeli’s case against USIU-Africa, with the main constitutional petition still pending before the court.
The university was granted until September 24 to file additional documents it intends to rely on in the main petition.
Masengeli’s lawyer, Cecil Miller, was given five days from service to file his submissions, while USIU-Africa was granted seven days after service to file its submissions.
The petitioner was also granted leave to file a supplementary submission within three days of service.
The matter will be mentioned on October 21 to confirm compliance with the directions and take further directions on the hearing of the main petition.
Masengeli had moved to court after claiming that delays in the examination of his PhD dissertation had placed his participation in the September graduation ceremony at risk.
USIU-Africa opposed his application, arguing that he had not fulfilled all the requirements for the award of a PhD.
The university told the court that Masengeli was yet to defend his dissertation and complete other requirements before the Senate could consider his graduation.
Speaking after the ruling, Masengeli’s lawyers maintained that the case had raised broader questions about the administration of higher education institutions.
Lawyer Danstan Omari said Masengeli had chosen to bring the matter to the public domain to highlight what he described as concerns over how universities handle students’ academic processes.
Omari questioned whether universities should be allowed to operate without accountability, saying the case raises questions about the role of the Ministry of Education in addressing complaints arising from students’ academic progression.
He said Masengeli had paid millions of shillings in fees to the private university and questioned why, despite completing his studies, there had been difficulties in processing his academic requirements towards graduation.
Another lawyer, Stanley Kinyanjui, said Masengeli had conducted himself as a diligent student until an issue arose over his dissertation, which he described as one of the critical requirements for graduation.
According to Kinyanjui, Masengeli received communication on July 16 that the external supervisor had forwarded comments on his dissertation to the internal supervisor.
He said Masengeli incorporated the corrections and submitted a revised dissertation on July 23.
The lawyer said the next step should have been communication on whether the corrections were satisfactory or whether further amendments were required.
He alleged that the university did not communicate either outcome to Masengeli.
Kinyanjui said Masengeli was later taken by surprise when the university issued communication informing students that the deadline for applying for the September graduation had been extended.
He said the development prompted Masengeli, through Cecil Miller, to move to court seeking orders to stop the graduation pending determination of the dispute.
