The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
The University of Nairobi has been ordered to compensate a graduate with Sh3 million after the High Court ruled that the institution violated her constitutional rights by removing her name from the graduation list on the day of her ceremony in 2023.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi found that the university subjected Marceline Murono to humiliation, emotional distress and indignity after excluding her from the final graduation booklet without informing her beforehand or giving her an opportunity to explain herself.
According to the judgment, UoN had already cleared Murono to graduate. She had been issued with a graduation gown and had also attended the official rehearsal on the eve of the ceremony.
The judge said the university had effectively completed the necessary steps to allow Murono to graduate on December 15, 2023.
Murono only learnt that her name had been removed after a digital copy of the graduation booklet was shared in her class WhatsApp group on the morning of the ceremony.
Justice Mugambi noted that the university had not communicated with her in advance about the decision, describing this as a failure to respect her legitimate expectation.
UoN argued that Murono had submitted an incorrect form during the clearance process and had deposited money into the wrong university account.
However, the court rejected the explanation after examining evidence from Murono and another student. The judge found that Murono had contacted a university finance officer on November 22, 2023, and provided her registration details while trying to resolve the payment issue.
The court ruled that the university’s actions breached Article 47 of the Constitution, which protects the right to fair, lawful, efficient and reasonable administrative action.
Justice Mugambi also found that Murono’s rights to human dignity and protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment had been violated under Articles 28 and 29 of the Constitution.
The court highlighted the emotional impact of the decision, noting that Murono had invited family members, friends, relatives and colleagues to celebrate her graduation.
Justice Mugambi said the embarrassment of having loved ones gather for a celebration that ultimately did not happen had caused significant harm to her dignity.
The judge further dismissed UoN’s argument that Murono should have exhausted the university’s internal dispute-resolution procedures before going to court.
He found that although such mechanisms existed, they had not offered Murono an effective remedy in the circumstances.
The court therefore declared that Murono’s constitutional rights had been violated and awarded her Sh3 million in compensation.
The university was also ordered to issue her with an unconditional apology within 30 days. Failure to do so would result in the compensation increasing by an additional Sh1 million.
Murono was separately awarded Sh24,000 in special damages.
The university was granted a 30-day stay of execution after its lawyer told the court that he needed to seek instructions on whether to appeal the judgment.
