Court upholds suspension of 22 Kisii University law students

Twenty-two law students from Kisii University have suffered a major setback after the High Court in Kisii declined to suspend disciplinary action against them following allegations of examination malpractice.

The students had moved to court seeking interim orders to stop the implementation of their suspension letters and the cancellation of their examination results pending the hearing and determination of their application.

However, Justice Paul Kipkosgei Rotich ruled that the matter raised issues of public interest, noting that it touched on the integrity of examinations at one of the country’s institutions of higher learning.

“This matter is of public interest as it concerns the integrity of exams in one of our highest institutions of learning. The substratum of the petition is the outcome of the respondent’s disciplinary processes against the applicants,” said Justice Rotich.

The judge said granting the orders sought at this stage would amount to interfering with the university’s disciplinary process before the institution had been given an opportunity to fully respond.

“This Court is, therefore, of the considered view that interfering with the respondent’s disciplinary process at this stage by granting the orders sought would be akin to summarily determining the application in favour of the applicants without affording the respondent a hearing. This Court, therefore, respectfully declines to grant the interim orders sought,” he said.

The dispute stems from findings by the Kisii University Disciplinary Committee, which found the 22 law students guilty of examination malpractice. The committee subsequently recommended that the university’s Senate suspend the students for the 2026/2027 academic year, beginning in September 2026, and cancel their Semester One results for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The Senate adopted the recommendations, with the decision communicated to the students through letters dated April 27, 2026.

The students later appealed against the disciplinary measures, but their appeals were unsuccessful.

Of the 22 students affected, 20 are continuing students, while two have already completed their studies.

The court was considering a Notice of Motion dated August 25, 2026. When the matter came up for inter partes hearing on September 3, 2026, the continuing students sought interim orders suspending the implementation of the suspension letters issued on August 6, 2026, pending the determination of their application.

They also sought orders restraining the university, its agents, employees, assigns, or anyone acting on its behalf from preventing them from registering for the 2026/2027 academic year, which commenced on August 28, 2026.

The court’s decision leaves the university’s disciplinary measures in place as the legal challenge proceeds.

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