- USIU-Africa has told the High Court that DIG Eliud Masengeli’s PhD dissertation has not completed internal academic review and cannot yet proceed to oral defence.
- The university has maintained that Masengeli must follow the same doctoral requirements as all other candidates, rejecting any suggestion that his public office warrants different treatment.
- The court is now expected to weigh the competing positions on the dissertation’s academic status and whether USIU-Africa has followed its established procedures.
United States International University-Africa has told the High Court that Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Masengeli cannot yet defend his PhD dissertation because it has not completed the university’s internal academic review process.
The dispute follows a suit filed by Masengeli seeking court intervention to compel USIU-Africa to allow him to proceed with the oral defence of his dissertation and complete his doctoral studies. In court filings, the university argues that the dissertation remains under academic evaluation and has not received the internal clearance required before a candidate can be scheduled for an oral defence.
USIU-Africa’s position places academic procedure at the centre of the dispute. According to the institution, doctoral candidates cannot proceed to the defence stage until the prescribed review process has been completed and the relevant academic committees have given formal clearance. The university maintains that Masengeli must follow the same doctoral requirements as every other candidate, regardless of his senior position in the National Police Service, and has rejected any suggestion that his public office should result in different treatment.
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The case has attracted attention because it pits a senior public official against an academic institution over one of the most consequential stages of doctoral education: determining whether a candidate’s research is ready for public examination. At stake is not merely the timing of one student’s defence but the principle governing access to a university’s highest academic award. USIU-Africa argues that its doctoral procedures must apply consistently to all candidates, warning that allowing a student to bypass mandatory academic stages could undermine the integrity and credibility of the doctoral qualification.
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Masengeli, however, wants the court to intervene and address what he considers an unfair delay in completing his doctorate. The court will therefore have to consider the competing positions surrounding the dissertation’s current academic status and whether the university has acted within its established procedures.
For now, USIU-Africa maintains that no defence date can be fixed until the dissertation completes the required review and receives the necessary academic clearance. The dispute has shifted the spotlight from Masengeli’s powerful public office to the rules governing the attainment of a PhD, and whether those rules can be altered, accelerated or bypassed through judicial intervention.
By Hillary Muhalya
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