Masengeli Asks High Court to Intervene in USIU-Africa PhD Dispute

Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has moved to the High Court seeking intervention in a dispute with United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) over the processing and examination of his doctoral degree.

Masengeli wants the court to compel the university to release the results of his dissertation and facilitate the completion of his academic process, amid concerns that he could miss the institution's upcoming graduation ceremony.

Through his lawyer, Cecil Miller, the senior police officer argues that he faces an “imminent risk” of being excluded from the forthcoming graduation despite having completed the various stages of his PhD programme.

Masengeli is pursuing a PhD in International Relations at USIU-Africa, where he enrolled in September 2021.

Masengeli Seeks Clarity on Dissertation Results

In court papers, Masengeli says he has progressed through the key stages of his doctoral programme but remains uncertain about the status of his dissertation examination and whether there are any outstanding requirements he needs to fulfil.

He says he presented his dissertation proposal for defence in December 2025 and subsequently made amendments required by the university. He then obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board and proceeded with his research.

According to his petition, Masengeli submitted his first dissertation draft on June 11, 2026, before making further amendments based on comments from his supervisors.

By August 31, 2026, he says reports from both the internal and external examiners had been submitted to the university.

However, Masengeli claims that he was not subsequently informed of the outcome of the examination or given a clear explanation of the remaining steps required to complete his studies.

His lawyer argues that the situation has left the Deputy Inspector General facing uncertainty at a critical stage of his academic progression.

“Unless the respondent is compelled to release the petitioner's dissertation results and progress the petitioner's academic process, the petitioner faces real and imminent risk of being excluded from consideration for the forthcoming graduation through no failure or omission on his part,” his lawyer argues.

USIU-Africa Cites Pending Requirements

Masengeli says he wrote to USIU-Africa on August 25, 2026, seeking clarification on the status of his dissertation and academic progression.

The university responded on September 3, informing him that there were mandatory requirements and pending steps that still needed to be addressed. It also indicated that his matter had been forwarded to the Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.

Masengeli, however, maintains that the response did not identify the specific outstanding requirements or disclose the outcome of his dissertation examination.

He argues that the lack of clarity has effectively placed his academic progress in limbo, particularly with the university's graduation ceremony approaching.

Court Certifies Case as Urgent

The application was placed before Justice David Mburu on September 9, 2026. The court certified the matter as urgent and allowed it to be heard during the court recess.

Justice Mburu directed that the application, petition and accompanying documents be served on USIU-Africa by close of business on the same day, with proof of service to be filed thereafter.

The university was given three days from the date of service to respond to the application.

Masengeli Not Asking Court to Award PhD

Masengeli has clarified that his application does not ask the court to assess the academic quality of his research or award him a doctoral degree.

Instead, his case focuses on what he describes as the university's handling of the administrative and examination stages of his doctoral programme.

He wants the court to safeguard his position in the September graduation cycle while the dispute over the processing of his dissertation is considered.

The case now places the court in a position to consider whether the university should provide clarity on the status of Masengeli's dissertation and any outstanding academic requirements before the upcoming graduation.