High Court Declines to Stop USIU-Africa Graduation Over PhD Dispute

The High Court has rejected Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli’s application to stop the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) from holding its graduation ceremony on 26 September 2026.

Justice Patricia Mande dismissed Masengeli’s request for conservatory orders, finding that suspending the ceremony would affect students who were not parties to the case. The court also declined to order the university to include Masengeli on the graduation list.

Masengeli has challenged his exclusion from the cohort of doctoral graduates in International Relations. He enrolled in the PhD programme in September 2021, completed his coursework and examinations, and proceeded to the dissertation stage.

His lawyers, Cecil Miller and Danstan Omari, told the court that Masengeli defended his research proposal in December 2025, obtained the necessary approvals and submitted his dissertation for examination. They argued that his case concerned the university’s administrative process rather than the academic quality of his work.

The university disputed the application, arguing that Masengeli had not demonstrated that he had met all the requirements for graduation or formally applied to graduate. USIU-Africa said it remained willing to support him in completing the process once any outstanding requirements had been fulfilled.

Justice Mande also found no evidence that the university had given Masengeli a binding assurance that he would graduate in 2026. The judge said a legitimate expectation must be based on a clear promise or established institutional practice. The emails presented in court did not establish such a commitment.

The matter will be mentioned on 21 October 2026 to confirm compliance and issue directions on the substantive hearing.