Court dismisses Masengeli bid to halt USIU graduation over PhD row

Court rejects Masengeli’s bid to halt USIU graduation over his PhD dissertation. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has suffered a major setback after the High Court rejected his plea to suspend United States International University (USIU) Africa graduation in a row over his PhD dissertation clearance.

Justice Patricia Nyaundi, in her ruling, said that although the police boss has a legitimate expectation to graduate on September 26, 2026, he did not produce evidence to show that either the university or his internal supervisor had committed that he would graduate in this cohort of graduands.

“I am not persuaded. I do not consider that it is in the public interest to suspend the graduation, as has been sought by the applicant. In addition, the applicant seeks to be included in the graduation lists. I do not think that the order can be granted at this interview stage. Accordingly, the alternative order is also declined,” ruled Justice Nyaundi.

The university argued that there is a thorough quality and integrity assurance process for all its students.

The university’s lawyer Chege Njoroge accused the police boss of jumping the gun by failing to first invoke the university’s internal processes, including a change of supervisor if he was dissatisfied with the speed at which his work was assessed.

Chege argued that contrary to what Masengeli had told the court, he had not been issued with any marks nor had he been cleared to defend his paper.

He asserted that the university’s Senate sat to approve grades on September 9, 2026, and the Vice Chancellor communicated the same.

Chege further argued that to halt the September 26, 2026 graduation for all other students would be a violation of their legitimate expectation that they will be crowned after being given a nod by the top decision-making organ of the higher learning institution.

“The proceedings herein have been filed prematurely and in total disregard of the Respondent's Students' Academic Grievance Process that addresses any such complaints and grievances that a student may have relating to quality or standards and teaching approach, including supervision, and there being no justification for non-exhaustion of the internal dispute handling processes, the Petition and the Application should be struck out,” he argued.

The institution’s Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academics, Prof. Jeremiah Koshal, explained that although it is not opposed to Masengeli’s progression, he is not an exception to the processes put in place

The university Professor said that Masengeli was aware of the steps to be taken, as he had sent a demand letter on August 25, 2026 and got a response on September 3, 2026, but he four days later sent another demand, giving the university an ultimatum of 5 pm the same day for the release of his results.

“The doctoral defence dates are published for all doctoral students for ease of planning, with allocation of faculty resources and staff with the agreed dates circulated to ensure there is fair treatment for all students, with adequate time for preparations required, and they can therefore not be adjusted to favour any one particular student,” the Professor continued.

Masengeli, a student at the international higher learning institution, moved to court, claiming he was defending his dissertation in preparation for a doctoral degree despite completing his coursework and obtaining the necessary approvals from the board.

“The respondent's conduct of failure to release the results and facilitate the Petitioner's public defence of the dissertation is particularly prejudicial because the Respondent's final graduation list is expected to be prepared on or before 11 September 2026, while the respondent's graduation ceremony is scheduled for 26 September 2026,’ argued Masengeli’s lawyer Cecil Miller.

The lawyer insisted that his client is ready to defend his paper if the University needs him to at any time. “He can even sit tomorrow,” said Miller, adding that he had met all the requirements.

In his case, the officer said he joined the university around September 2021 to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations (IR) at the institution’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

He further said that the requirement for the course was to be in class for five years, with the expected graduation time being September this year.

“The petitioner completed the required coursework and examinations, and his results were approved by the respondent’s board of examiners in or about August 2023, whereof he proceeded with the dissertation stage of his programme,” added Miller.

The senior police officer stated that he was assigned a supervisor on July 18, 2024, and he submitted his final proposal on May 30 the following year.

He further said that it went through the process, and thereafter he went out for fieldwork, which he completed within two weeks.

Masengeli narrated that he submitted his first draft on June 11 this year. He added that his internal supervisor responded within 14 days and the second supervisor three days after the internal one, and he addressed them.

“The petitioner submitted his second dissertation draft on July 14, 2026. His internal supervisor acknowledged receipt on July 16, 2026 and indicated that he would revert after reviewing the draft,” said Masengeli, adding that a follow-up showed that the results had allegedly been received from the two examiners.

According to the court case, Masengeli’s point of departure with USIU was that the school had allegedly not submitted his results.

The case will be mentioned on October 21, 2026.