This archive report was first published on 30 July 2019.
Published on July 30, 2019, a government investigation has raised concerns about the PhD processes at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT). The Commission for University Education (CUE) has given the university's senate three months to review 118 PhDs awarded during the 33rd graduation ceremony on June 21, 2019.
The investigation revealed that the university violated the universities' standards and guidelines, which came into force in 2014. The CUE has also stopped JKUAT from offering PhD programmes in its satellite campuses for lack of capacity. For instance, the Mombasa campus, which has graduated 23 PhD students in the past three years, does not have a single professor.
JKUAT has been asked to address questions raised by the commission in the investigations or risk having the degrees recalled. The university will also have to review all its PhDs awarded in the past three graduations. A total of 327 PhD and 2,101 master's degrees were awarded during the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd graduation ceremonies held in June 2018, November 2018, and June 2019.
The CUE has directed the university to submit evidence of the students' publication of two articles in refereed journals for each PhD awarded since 2014. The university has also been asked to adhere to guidelines on admission requirements for PhD. The report indicates that some PhD students were admitted into the programme on the basis of a master's degree but without relevant academic bachelor's degrees.
