Court upholds student’s expulsion from JKUAT over forged degree

• The High Court has upheld JKUAT’s decision to expel a student who was found to have used a forged bachelor’s degree certificate to gain admission into a master’s programme.

• Justice Tabitha Ouya ruled that the university followed a fair and lawful disciplinary process and that courts cannot re-evaluate academic misconduct decisions where due process was observed.

• The court therefore dismissed the case and declined to order her reinstatement or graduation, noting that universities have authority to enforce academic integrity.

A woman who used an alleged forged undergraduate degree certificate to secure admission into a Master of Science programme at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has lost her bid to have the High Court overturn her expulsion and reinstate her academic standing, in a ruling that reaffirms universities’ authority to enforce academic integrity.

Lady Justice Tabitha Ouya of the High Court at Thika threw out the case filed by Jescah Nekesa Wanyonyi on June 11, 2026, finding that JKUAT’s disciplinary process was lawful and that she had failed to show any reason for the court to step in.

According to the reports, the case traces its origins to a verification exercise initiated by the Public Service Commission (PSC), which asked JKUAT to confirm whether Wanyonyi’s Bachelor’s degree certificate was genuine. The university established that the certificate had not been issued by the institution, concluding it was a forgery.

JKUAT subsequently opened disciplinary proceedings against Wanyonyi. Following the process, the university’s Examination Disciplinary Committee on April 13, 2023, resolved to withdraw her Master of Science degree in Procurement and Logistics. On March 11, 2024, the committee went further and expelled her from the university entirely. Wanyonyi challenged the decision internally, but the Disciplinary Appeal Committee upheld it.

The student went to the High Court asking for an order to cancel the disciplinary committee’s decisions, an order to stop the university from acting on those decisions, and an order to force JKUAT to graduate her and restore her Master of Science degree.

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She argued that the disciplinary process was unfair, claiming that the university acted as both the accuser and the decision maker in her case. She further claimed she was never given a chance to defend herself before the decisions were made, and that the examination rules used against her did not exist when she completed her undergraduate studies, meaning the university had applied rules from the future to punish her for something done in the past.

Wanyonyi also argued that JKUAT’s own examination rules allowed a student to be admitted into a Master’s programme based on demonstrated ability, even without a completed degree. She said that since the university had admitted her on that basis, it could not later turn around and take away her admission.

However JKUAT, through a sworn statement by Chief Legal Officer Richard Wokabi Kariuki, maintained that Wanyonyi was given a full and fair chance to be heard throughout the disciplinary process, and that her claims to the contrary were false.

The university acknowledged that Wanyonyi had completed her course units but said she had not finished paying her school fees, making her ineligible to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and therefore also ineligible for admission into the Masters programme. The university further argued that her decision to present a forged bachelor’s degree certificate as a legitimate document showed a clear intent to work around existing admission rules.

Lady Justice Ouya in her ruling, said the central question was whether JKUAT’s disciplinary process met the constitutional standard of fair treatment under Article 47 of the Constitution and the Fair Administrative Actions Act, 2015, which give every person the right to a fair process before a decision affecting them is made.

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The judge explained that courts reviewing such cases do not re-examine whether the decision was right or wrong. They only check whether the process followed was lawful and fair. He said Wanyonyi’s case was not the right type of court process for arguing whether she was innocent or guilty of forgery.

On whether Wanyonyi was given a chance to be heard, the judge found that JKUAT had shown she was heard and was even allowed to appeal. The judge noted that it was Wanyonyi’s responsibility to prove she was denied a hearing and she had not done so.

“Although the Applicant alleges that the decision subject of this application was made without according her an opportunity to be heard, the Respondent has demonstrated that indeed the Applicant was heard and even afforded an opportunity to appeal but the said appeal was also dismissed,” Ouya stated.

The court also declined to order JKUAT to graduate or reinstate Wanyonyi, finding that the university had acted within its lawful powers and that no misuse of those powers had been shown.

Lady Justice Ouya stressed that courts are generally careful not to interfere with how universities handle student discipline and academic matters, but will step in where clear unfairness is shown. He found that JKUAT’s actions were reasonable given the circumstances.

“It is important that the court should as far as possible avoid any decision or interpretation which would bring about the result of rendering the system of managing discipline in universities unworkable,” the judge stated.

The case was dismissed with each side meeting its own legal costs.

By Benedict Aoya