Over 200 Egerton University engineering graduates have issued a seven-day notice to the university, accusing it of defying court orders to issue replacement degree certificates.
This comes after the graduates were denied the opportunity to register with the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) due to allegations that the university offered unaccredited engineering courses between 2014 and 2019.
The graduates say that despite fulfilling all remedial requirements mandated by the EBK, the university has refused to confer certificates aligned with programmes accredited by both the EBK and the Commission for University Education (CUE).
Egerton Engineering Graduates Threaten to Sue University Over Withheld Degrees
The students have warned that failure to comply with existing court orders will compel them to seek contempt citations, a mandatory injunction, and punitive measures against responsible officials.
“Should you fail to comply, we are instructed to move to the High Court for contempt proceedings against the Vice Chancellor and relevant officers,” reads the notice by their lawyer, Francis Wanjiku.
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The affected graduates completed their studies in 2019, only to later discover they were ineligible for professional practice due to curriculum deficiencies in Egerton’s engineering programmes.
They were drawn from three engineering programmes: Water and Environmental Engineering (2014–2018), Mechanical Engineering Technology (2014–2015), and Instrumentation and Control Engineering (2014–2019).
In 2022, they petitioned Parliament to intervene in their case, and it was recommended that they return to class for remedial instruction.
However, the university failed to implement the directive by the expected September 2022 start date, prompting the students to take legal action in May 2023, seeking to suspend the institution’s engineering programmes.
Court Orders University to Retrain Graduates Over Unlicensed Courses
The High Court, in its August 2024 ruling, ordered the university to facilitate and fund remedial courses for the three programmes within three months.
“The gravamen of the petition is the allegation that the 1st respondent offered unaccredited engineering courses to its students who, upon graduation, the Engineers Board of Kenya (3rd Respondent), refused to register as graduate engineers, thereby denying them a chance of ever becoming engineers,” Judge Lawrence Mugambi stated in the ruling.
“An order compelling the 1st Respondent to facilitate the Petitioners and all the affected students to undertake remedial courses recommended by the 3rd Respondent. The cost shall be fully covered by the 1st Respondent and the same should be within the next three (3) months or, where applicable, over such a period as may be individually agreed between each of the affected students and the 1st Respondent.”
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The remedial curriculum included courses such as Highway Geometry Design, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural Masonry Design, Pavement Design, Foundation Engineering, Theory of Structures III, Transport Engineering II, and Urban Drainage and Flood Protection.
After the ruling, the university later instructed the graduates to apply directly to the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology by September 30, 2024, via email at [email protected], with a copy sent to the Registrar (Academic Affairs) at [email protected].
The graduates completed eight remedial courses over two semesters, designed in consultation with the EBK to enable them to meet the requirements for registration as Graduate Engineers.
Despite fulfilling these requirements, the university has declined to issue the corrected certificates.
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