Maseno University To Pay Ex-Medical Student Ksh500,000
A former student will get Sh500,000 from Maseno University and the board of medical laboratory technologists and technicians.
The student enrolled in the institution in 1999 and graduated in 2010, but the board refused to allow him to practice after his graduation.
Because of financial difficulties, Stephen Siangani Lungwe said it took him a while to get his bachelor’s degree in biomedical science and technology in 2010, but he planned to be able to look for employment afterward.
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The Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board declined to register him, claiming the university was not accredited to offer the education, and he claimed that more than ten years later, he has still been unable to find a fulfilling work.
He claimed that the board did not inform him of this until he had paid the registration fee.
Langwe made the decision to petition the Ombudsman for intervention in 2018 because despite the board informing him that they were refusing to register him, they only did so over the phone and failed to do it in writing.
The Ombudsman’s letters went unanswered.
The guy filed a lawsuit against the institution and the board in November 2021, claiming that after completing the course, meeting all the prerequisites, and graduating, he had a rightful expectation to be registered, find employment, or otherwise engage in a meaningful economic activity.
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In court documents, it was said that the petitioner had “decried the respondents’ actions, which he stated have caused him untold suffering and caused him to remain unemployed this far, as he does not have the 2nd respondent’s license to enable him to operate as a laboratory technician and/or technologist.”
In addition, he claimed that the difficulty had kept him indebted to Helb, whose Sh169,000 principal loan had grown to Sh800,000 in interest and penalties as of 2021.
Although Lungwe was enrolled at Maseno University, the board did not provide a response to the matter.
According to Prof. Mary J. Kipsat, the deputy vice chancellor in charge of academic and student relations, the institution offered the course in 1999, before the board even existed, and there were no certification requirements for its graduates at that time.
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The petitioner’s course had been accredited at the time it was offered by the Commission for Higher Education, but was not subject to a professional body, according to the statement. “She explained that at the time of the 1st respondent’s [the university] establishment and subsequent admission of the petitioner in 1999, the 2nd respondent [the board] was non-existent,” it said.
However, the board wrote to the university in 2011 informing them that an evaluation of the course revealed it needed six additional units added to it in order for its graduates to be registered, the professor testified in court.
This prompted the university to recall all 79 degrees granted for the course, requesting that students return to the lecture halls to complete the six courses’ coursework and tests before receiving their degrees and registering for classes.
It disseminated the information via newspaper advertisements.
Only 21 pupils returned, thus it appears that Lungwe, like many others, did not see the advertisement.
“An advertisement in the neighborhood daily newspapers and on the university website led to the call. Only 21 of the 79 recalled students returned to finish the course satisfactorily and graduate in 2012 with their earlier degrees nullified. The petitioner did not return to finish the course.
According to Lungwe’s testimony in court, his relationship with the university “was contractual and ended upon the conferral of the degree.”
Thus, once the contract was cancelled, the first respondent “lacked any legal basis to recall the students.”
In addition, he remarked, “he noted that the first respondent was insensitive to the delay and time waste caused to the petitioner by forcing him to go back to school.”
Ultimately, the High Court agreed with Lungwe’s complaint, concluding that the school and board had infringed his rights.
The university and board were compelled to reimburse the man Sh500,000 collectively.
Additionally, it was said that the guy should be permitted to return to the university to complete the six required courses at a discounted rate, graduate, and apply for registration.
Maseno University To Pay Ex-Medical Student Ksh500,000
