Police Deputy Inspector General Masengeli Fails to Stop USIU Graduation

The High Court has declined to stop a graduation ceremony at the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) after Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli sought orders compelling the institution to include him on this year's list of graduates.

Justice Patricia Mande on Wednesday dismissed the application seeking conservatory orders to stop the graduation scheduled for September 26, 2026,

"Being that the first relief sought adversely affects other students not party to the suit, the prayer for conservatory orders stopping the graduation scheduled for the 26th of September 2026 is hereby declined," the judge ruled.

The court also declined to issue an alternative order that sought to direct the university to include the DIG in the graduation list.

The judge said the key issue was whether Masengeli had established a legitimate expectation that he would graduate with the cohort scheduled for then.

"Upon consideration of the Application and the emails forming part of the supporting documents, there is no establishment of a specific promise to the Petitioner (Masengeli) that he was to graduate in the forthcoming graduation, scheduled for 26th September 2026," she observed.

She said such an expectation must be founded on a promise or established practice by a public authority that is within its power to fulfil.

The case stems from a dispute between the DIG and the university over what he describes as his exclusion from this year’s graduation list despite having pursued a PhD in International Relations at the institution.

The court heard that Masengeli joined the doctoral programme in September 2021, completed his coursework and examinations, and later moved to the dissertation stage.

He says he defended his dissertation proposal in December 2025, obtained the necessary approvals and submitted his dissertation for examination.

Through lawyers Cecil Miller and Danstan Omari, Masengeli argues that he has fulfilled the requirements communicated to him but was left out of the graduation list.

His lawyers said the case concerned the university’s administrative process and not the academic merits of his dissertation.

Miller said Masengeli made inquiries after discovering that his name was missing from the list but received no satisfactory response, prompting him to issue a formal demand.

USIU-Africa, through their lawyer, opposed the application, stressing that stopping the September 26 graduation would affect other students.

The counsel said the DIG had not demonstrated that he had met all mandatory graduation requirements and questioned whether he had made the necessary application for graduation.

 "I must mention to the court that the graduation is scheduled in two weeks' time, and the petitioner has not attained the academic requirements to be placed on the graduation list," the court heard.

The university told the court it had filed its responses within two days of being served and urged the court not to interfere with the graduation process.

The university added it remained ready to support Masengeli in completing the process if he fulfilled the outstanding requirements.

Following the ruling, the parties agreed to fast-track the petition.

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