Egerton University engineering graduates are threatening legal action, accusing the university of defying orders to issue replacement degree certificates.
The graduates contend that despite fulfilling all Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK)-mandated remedial requirements, Egerton University has declined to confer degrees reflecting the recognised engineering titles.
The High Court, in its ruling issued in August 2024, directed that the university offer the eight remedial courses to the more than 200 graduates within three months.
After completing eight remedial courses over two semesters, graduates say the university has refused to issue certificates aligned with programmes accredited by the EBK and the Commission for University Education (CUE).
The students have served Egerton University with a seven-day notice to comply with existing court orders, failing which they will seek contempt citations, a mandatory injunction, and punitive measures.
“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.
The engineering graduates from three programmes graduated in 2019, only to discover they were ineligible for professional practice due to curriculum deficiencies in Egerton’s engineering programmes.
In response, the graduates petitioned Parliament in 2022 to intervene in their case. It was recommended that they return to class for remedial instruction.
Despite the directive, the university failed to act by the expected September 2022 start date, prompting the students to move to court in May 2023, seeking to suspend engineering programmes at the institution.
The court, in its August 2024 ruling, ordered the university to facilitate and fund the remedial courses for three engineering programmes: Bachelor of Science in Water and Environmental Engineering (WEEN), Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and Instrumentation and Control Engineering.
The remedial courses spread include 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.
In April 2025, the Egerton University, in compliance with the court order, invited the candidates to register directly with the Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology ahead of the commencement of the classes.
The first cohort of approximately 80 students began the courses in September 2024. The classes are delivered virtually, while examinations were conducted in person.
Without EBK accreditation, they were barred from formal employment in the engineering field and often had to resort to menial jobs.
Egerton has since revised its WEEN programme to meet the Engineers board requirements, aligning it more closely with the Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEEN). However, at the time of the 2019 graduation, the programme had not yet been accredited.
Over the recent times, the Engineers board has expressed concern over the growing number of people who have studied unaccredited courses and whose applications it cannot approve.
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