Kenya’s biggest collegiate research center- the University of Nairobi (UoN) has been ordered to pay one of its graduates Sh500,000 for postponing his graduation for more than four years.
Paul peter Makanda Makokha, a class 2016 graduate had complained that his supervisor had delayed his Masters’ degree graduation.
According to Paul Peter’s petition, he joined the UoN 2009 after he got admitted to pursue a course that would ordinarily last for two years.
In 2011, he was through with his coursework and was assigned a supervisor, Robinson Ocharo, who cleared him to graduate in 2016.
Makanda successfully argued in court that Mr Ocharo was rarely unavailable for supervision which led to the postponement of his graduation.
In his ruling, Justice Weldon Korir noted that the delay in Makanda’s studies was not his fault and ordered the university to compensate him.
“The petitioner has also established that the unwarranted delay in the completion of his master’s studies violated his right to Education. He had a legitimate expectation that he would complete his degree course within two years, as indicated in the letter of admission,” ruled the judge.
In court, Makanda stated that his supervisor took him round in circles when he was working on his thesis which messed up the set preparation period resulting in unnecessary delays.
Makanda told the court that he, after filing hundreds of complaints, was assigned another supervisor and graduated in 2016 although he complained that UoN foul-ups had ruined his chances of securing employment.
According to Makanda, he argued that the delay did not paint his resume in a positive light showing that he spent five years on a 2-year course.
In their defence, UoN lawyers had argued that Makanda was not guaranteed he would take two years to complete a course because thesis writing was an academic process and not an event.
In June this year, 80 law school students filed a petition against the University of Nairobi and asked the court to stop the institution from going on with the online classes.
In their argument, they said that the UoN through its senate arbitrarily and without consultations and public participation made the decision to commence online learning.
“The online program has no access to face to face consultation with the lecturers, has limited access to the library and access to physical-based program facilities that it is only fair that the fees is reduced,” the students argued.
In 2019, a master’s degree holder in actuarial science took the University of Nairobi (UoN) to court for employing him as a messenger since 2005.
Stephen Otieno Ogutu argued through his lawyer Titus Koceyo that the High Court should compel the university to offer him a job matching his qualifications.
And besides, his lawyer Titus Koceyo told the Employment and Labour Relations Court that Mr Ogutu had not been paid for the last nine months. The unpaid salary, he says, amounts to Sh310,806. He also sought compensation for wrongful and unlawful withholding of his pay.
