Kenya School of Law ordered to reconsider student's admission that it voided
National
By
Fred Kagonye
| Dec 29, 2023
The Kenya School of Law (KSL) has been ordered to reconsider the application of a student it had admitted only to later revoke his admission.
In his decision, Justice Jairus Ngaah said that he was satisfied that the applicant had made a case to be granted the orders sought.
In his case, Farah Ahmed Abdi, a law student, had sued the KSL, the institution's director and the attorney general.
To be an advocate of the High Court in Kenya, one needs to have completed a law degree and thereafter obtained a postgraduate diploma from KSL.
Abdi, in September 2022, applied to join the Advocates Training Programme (ATP) which is offered by KSL.
Upon conducting due diligence, KSL found that he was qualified to join ATP and issued him with an admission letter dated February 10, 2023.
He paid the required fees and he was registered and admitted into ATP. Abdi was due to complete his studies within 12 months.
However, in a turn of events, KSL issued Abdi with a letter dated February 20, 2023, revoking his admission without giving him a hearing.
Abdi filed an appeal with the Legal Education Appeals Tribunal which set aside the decision by KSL on June 23, 2023, and directed him to submit his application for reconsideration by the school upon the equation of his grades by an authorised body.
Abdi served KSL and its director with the said order to which they acknowledged receipt and directed him to acquire another equation for his grades for their consideration.
He submitted his grades to the Commission for University Education (CUE) for alignment and the commission, in a letter dated July 11, 2023, confirmed that Abdi had the requisite qualifications
Abdi then served KSL with the CUE decision and resubmitted his application for consideration following the tribunal's order.
KSL later rejected his application in a letter dated July 17, 2023, ordering Abdi to obtain another equation of his qualifications from the Kenya National Qualification Authority (KNQA).
In response, he argued, that the tribunal had declared that KNQA had no authority to align grades in Kenya and wrote back to KSL on July 26, 2023, seeking readmission.
Blatant violation
He said the move by KSL and its director was a blatant violation of the order and judgment of the tribunal and that it continued to deprive him of the right to education.
KSL argued the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter and that Abdi's application was not properly before the court.
In an affidavit by Fredrick Muhia, KSL said Abdi was found unqualified because his academic qualifications were below the statutory threshold.
Muhia argued that Abdi refused to provide certificates of equation specific to his grades and instead demanded to be readmitted on the strength of "a non-specific letter of recognition and equation" from CUE.
He added that Abdi did not comply with the directions of the tribunal hence their refusal to admit him.