The Court of Appeal has ruled that universities can be held constitutionally liable for unreasonable administrative delays that prevent students from graduating on time, in a judgment expected to reshape how higher learning institutions handle examination records and academic disputes across the country.
The case involved 21 former students of the Technical University of Kenya pursuing a diploma in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, whose graduation was delayed after their lecturer allegedly failed to return examination scripts from a compulsory mathematics paper sat in 2012. The university subsequently directed all 72 affected students to re-sit the exam, pushing back their graduation.
While the court acknowledged that the university had a legitimate right to investigate the missing scripts, it found that the institution failed to act with the urgency required to protect students’ expectation of graduating on time. The judges held that the university’s prolonged inaction violated the students’ right to fair administrative action under Article 47 of the Constitution.
“It is a settled principle of good administrative action, codified in Article 47, that it must be expeditious and efficient,” the judges said, adding that the university “should have always kept its eye on the clock” so that its investigations would not jeopardise students’ timely graduation.
The court further noted that criminal charges against the lecturer were only initiated roughly a year and a half after the examinations, calling the delay further evidence of administrative inefficiency.
Although the judges upheld the finding of liability, they reduced the compensation awarded to each student from Ksh148,764 to Ksh50,000. The court also overturned an earlier finding that the students’ right to dignity had been violated, ruling that claims of embarrassment before family and society were not backed by sufficient evidence. Judges additionally found the original compensation had been speculative, based on an unsupported assumption that graduates would take seven months to secure employment.
Each side was directed to bear its own costs of the appeal.
The ruling lands against the backdrop of a wider problem across Kenyan universities, where missing marks and delayed results have repeatedly disrupted students’ academic journeys. Reports suggest nearly nine in ten universities have grappled with similar record-keeping failures, often costing students job opportunities, internships, professional licensing chances, and additional tuition and living expenses from prolonged study periods.
Education stakeholders say the decision sends a clear signal that universities must strengthen examination management and record-keeping systems, and resolve academic disputes promptly, or risk being held accountable for the disruption caused to students’ lives.
