For someone who has spent years working towards a doctorate, graduation can feel like the final page of a long story. For Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli, however, that page will not be turned on September 26.
The High Court has declined his request to either stop the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) graduation ceremony or compel the university to include his name among the students graduating with the September 2026 cohort.
The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, September 16, leaves the university’s September 26 ceremony on course while Masengeli’s larger dispute with the institution continues before the court.
At the centre of the application was a simple but consequential question: had USIU-Africa given Masengeli a clear assurance that he would graduate with this particular cohort?
The court found that it had not.
Justice Patricia Mande said the correspondence presented by Masengeli did not establish a specific promise that he would graduate on September 26. The court noted that a legitimate expectation must be based on a promise or established practice that an institution has the authority to fulfil.
Masengeli had sought two alternatives. He first wanted the court to suspend the entire graduation ceremony. If that failed, he wanted an order directing USIU-Africa to add his name to the graduation list pending determination of his main petition.
Both requests were declined.
The court also considered the effect of stopping the ceremony on other students who were not part of the dispute and had already satisfied the requirements for graduation. Halting the event, the court found, would adversely affect those students.
But the ruling does not settle the disagreement between Masengeli and the university.
Masengeli joined USIU-Africa's PhD programme in International Relations in September 2021. According to his lawyers, he completed his coursework and examinations, defended his dissertation proposal in December 2025, obtained the necessary approvals and proceeded to submit his dissertation for examination.
His legal team says he later revised and resubmitted the dissertation on July 23, 2026, after receiving comments from his external supervisor. They argue that he was not subsequently informed whether the corrections were satisfactory or whether additional amendments were required.
It was this uncertainty, his lawyers say, that eventually led him to seek legal intervention after discovering that his name was missing from the graduation list.
USIU-Africa has presented a different position. The university argued that Masengeli had not demonstrated that he had fulfilled all the mandatory requirements for the award of his PhD. It maintained that the dissertation process, including the required defence and consideration by the university's Senate, had to be completed before graduation could proceed.
The university also questioned whether Masengeli had made the necessary application for graduation.
The disagreement therefore goes beyond a name missing from a list. It touches on the point at which completing academic work becomes an entitlement to graduate, and what communication from a university can reasonably be understood as a commitment to a particular graduation date.
For now, the September ceremony will proceed without the court-ordered inclusion Masengeli sought.
His main petition, however, remains alive. The parties have agreed to fast-track the case, with USIU-Africa expected to file additional documents by September 24. Masengeli's lawyers will then have five days to respond, followed by the university's response and a further opportunity for supplementary submissions.
The matter will return to court on October 21 for confirmation of compliance and further directions.
So while the court has closed one door for Masengeli ahead of the September ceremony, the larger question surrounding his doctoral journey is still waiting for an answer.
