The High Court has refused to halt the upcoming September 26 graduation ceremony at United States International University–Africa (USIU-A) after Deputy Inspector-General of Police Gilbert Masengeli challenged his exclusion from the graduands list.
Masengeli, who is pursuing a PhD at the institution, filed an urgent court application seeking to suspend the ceremony, alleging that the university delayed processing his dissertation and jeopardized his chances of graduating on time.
USIU-Africa Cites Incomplete Academic Requirements
USIU-Africa strongly opposed Masengeli’s application, maintaining that the police boss has not satisfied the mandatory academic benchmarks required for the award of a doctoral degree.
Appearing for the university, lawyer Chege Njoroge informed the court that Masengeli is yet to defend his dissertation before a panel of internal and external examiners, noting that the earliest available date for his oral defense is October 6, 2026.
“What Masengeli is inviting the court to do is disregard the procedures of running the programmes,” Njoroge submitted.
The institution outlined that Masengeli must present proof that his research has produced two published journal articles alongside required formal confirmations before he can complete the doctoral program. Furthermore, even if he successfully defends his dissertation, the process must still receive final approval from the university senate before he can graduate.
Addressing claims of institutional delay, USIU-A noted that Masengeli submitted his research proposal 16 months after enrolling. The university approved the proposal for defense in December 2025, after which the dissertation went through internal review rounds with revisions submitted across June, July, and August.
USIU-A also pointed out that Masengeli failed to exhaust internal academic grievance mechanisms before seeking judicial intervention.
“The earliest complaint was a demand from his lawyer in August, when it was clear that he could not graduate because he had not met the mandatory requirements,” Njoroge added.
Masengeli Claims Administrative Inaction
Advocate Cecil Miller, representing Masengeli, argued that his client had made consistent progress since enrolling in September 2021 and was led to believe he would be part of the September 2026 graduating cohort.
Miller submitted that Masengeli regularly provided updated drafts, including a revised version on July 23, but the university unexpectedly stopped communicating and omitted his name from the graduation list without clear explanation.
“He was all the way towards graduation and fulfilled all the requirements, then a total silence and a list is issued, and his name is missing,” Miller argued.
Following the High Court’s refusal to freeze the event, USIU-Africa will proceed with its graduation ceremony on September 26 as scheduled, while Masengeli’s broader petition regarding his doctoral processing remains pending in court.
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