The United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) has responded to claims by Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli that he has been denied an opportunity to complete his PhD studies.
The university has told the High Court that Masengeli’s dissertation is still undergoing the required academic review and that he cannot proceed to the next stage until the process is completed.
USIU said Masengeli is not being treated differently from other doctoral candidates and must meet all the requirements before defending his dissertation.
The university said the process involves several mandatory stages, with the dissertation currently still under review.
“There are mandatory requirements and pending next steps,” USIU said in a response to Masengeli, according to court documents.
Masengeli moved to court after claiming that the university had failed to communicate the outcome of the examination of his dissertation or explain what was outstanding.
He said he had completed the requirements expected of him and was seeking to be allowed to proceed with the next stage of the process.
The Deputy Inspector General is pursuing a PhD in International Relations at USIU-Africa. He had sought the court’s intervention to enable him to progress with the programme and be considered for the university’s September graduation.
USIU, however, maintains that the academic process has not been completed and that Masengeli must wait for the remaining stages before he can defend his dissertation.
The dispute is now before the High Court, which has certified the matter as urgent and directed the university to respond to Masengeli’s application.
The case will determine whether Masengeli can proceed with the remaining requirements in time for the September graduation or whether he will have to wait for a later graduation cycle.
