Final-year students from Kenya Methodist University say around 1,000 of them have been excluded from the graduation list for Friday, 7 November 2026, despite completing all academic requirements and full financial clearance.

The students, from different departments in the Class of 2026, wrote to blogger Cyprian Nyakundi asking him to highlight their situation, and asked that their identities be hidden. The letter was supplied to Campus Pulse on 1 November 2026.

According to the letter, the first graduation list was released and their names were missing. The students reported to the university and their respective departments, and a second auditing and verification of marks was done. They say they were assured they would be included in the final list.

The second list was released on 28 October 2026, the students say, and their names were still excluded, with no written explanation. They say they have completed their clearance, have no fee balances, and their marks were verified.

They say they have tried to get answers from the Nairobi campus offices without success, and are now in distress because time is short before 7 November. They are requesting the university management to look into their cases urgently and give them a fair chance to graduate with their fellow students.

The ceremony the students are writing about is KeMU's 26th graduation, scheduled for Friday, 7 November 2026, at the main campus graduation square in Meru, where Chief Justice Martha Koome is to be conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. Pulse and The Star reported the Koome announcement on 14 October 2026, with the ceremony running under the theme "Empowered to Lead, Transformed to Serve, Creating Sustainable Impact." Mandatory rehearsals and commissioning services for graduating students are set for Friday, 6 November 2026. KeMU's graduation lists page shows the 2026 graduation list as published on 22 October 2026. Names and registration numbers from any graduation list must not be reproduced.

A similar omission dispute reached court after KeMU's 2025 graduation. Four nursing students who said they had met the requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and were eligible to graduate on 8 November 2025, but were omitted from the graduands list, took the university to the High Court at Meru. The court dismissed their petition in a ruling delivered on 7 May 2026. That was a different set of students, a different graduation, and a different outcome in court from the one the 2026 students are asking for now, which is an urgent review by the university before Friday.

Sources

Letter from KeMU final-year students, Class of 2026, to Cyprian Nyakundi, supplied to Campus Pulse by Vince on 1 Nov 2026. The students asked for their identities to be hidden; no names are published here.

Pulse, 14 October 2026: https://www.pulse.co.ke/story/kenya-methodist-university-to-confer-honorary-doctorate-on-chief-justice-martha-koome-2026101408141389164

The Star, 14 October 2026: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-10-14-kemu-to-award-honorary-doctorate-to-cj-koome

KeMU graduation lists page (2026 list published 22 October 2026): https://kemu.ac.ke/graduation-lists

Mogoa & 3 others v Kenya Methodist University & 4 others [2026] KEHC 6261 (KLR), High Court at Meru, ruling delivered 7 May 2026: https://sheriahub.com/cases/ke/caselaw/mogoa-3-others-v-kenya-methodist-university-4-others-2026-kehc-6261-klr.pdf