MKU appeals suspension of law course

Mount Kenya University (MKU) has appealed in court the suspension of its law degree programme by the Council of Legal Education (CLE), pleading that the move could pour more than Sh657 million investment down the drain.

MKU says in court filings that the CLE suspended its Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree programme on January 7, three days after the institution had admitted students to pursue the course.

The university has been operating on a provisional accreditation licence since 2010 when it started offering the law degree. The regulator has ordered MKU to suspend its law programme until a decision has been reached on whether to award the university permanent accreditation.

The CLE has also announced an inspection of MKU’s learning facilities on January 22 to verify whether they meet required standards. The university holds that only the Commission for University Education (CUE) can inspect higher learning institutions. It adds that MKU passed CUE’s inspections last year.

But the university says it has since 2010 jumped through CLE’s hoops, and that it even purchased two prime buildings in Nairobi for more than Sh657 million in a bid to ensure it provides the most conducive learning environment.

“The CUE is the only body that has been mandated to inspect and accredit universities. By a letter dated June 10, 2015 the CUE notified MKU that its Nairobi campuses, among them the school of law, met the minimum standards required and they were duly accredited.

“The reliefs sought are that this court prohibits CLE from carrying out an inspection towards full accreditation of MKU,” the university says.
The CLE is yet to respond to the suit.

The university says it initially bought MKU Towers for Sh357 million to house the school of law, but the CLE rejected the premises claiming it is not conducive for legal training.

The rejection saw it buy another building in Parklands for Sh300 million, which the CLE approved for the law school.

The university expressed fears students who had been admitted to its school of law may slap it with suits, and that it may be forced to lay off lecturers if CLE is not restrained from interfering with the law degree programme.

“MKU’s substantial investment in excess of Sh650 million will be placed at risk as the applicant operates through a business plan that is prepared having regard to the number of students it has. MKU may be faced with numerous cases by the students who have already been admitted into the LLB programme,” says the university.

The CLE’s decision comes barely five months after MKU was engaged in another tussle with the Rwanda education regulator over its medical course.

Rwanda’s Ministry of Education, through the Higher Education Council — the country’s tertiary education regulator — in September suspended MKU from offering undergraduate courses in nursing, pharmacy and medical laboratory sciences as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public health. However, the regulator rescinded the decision after fresh inspection.