Lady Justice Njoki Ndung'u of the Supreme Court on Tuesday found herself in the less popular side while offering the judgement to a suit that had been filed by six engineering students.
Justice Ndung'u sided with the respondent, Engineering Registration Board (ERB), which had been accused of denying the students registration.
The judge maintained that ERB reserved the right to registration and had the powers to deny the students admission as members of the practice.
The students from Masinde Muliro University and Egerton University had sued the board for denying them registration on grounds that the courses they had studied did not fit the criteria used by ERB to certify engineers.
[caption caption="CJ David Maraga arrives at the Supreme Court chambers during the hearing of the 2017 presidential election petition"]
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Chief Justice David Maraga and four other judges of the Supreme Court ruled that the board ought to compensate the over 2,000 students who had been enjoined in the case a sum of Ksh200,000 each.
In addition, the board was ordered to register the students insisting that it would not be just to punish them for elements beyond their control.
"In refusing to register and recognise the students, we find that ERB violated their rights to human dignity and the legitimate expectation to earn a livelihood.
"The board has 21 days to register and recognise them as engineers and pay each damage amounting to Ksh200,000," the court judgement stated in part.
The majority ruling further explained that it was painful for parents to have taken the students through school and not have them reap the benefits of the education they had gained.
"It is a reality that education is the key to one's success and many parents in Kenya struggle so much to have their children reach that level of education.
"We find that ERB acted in a discriminatory manner to deny them registration when they had no such powers," the judges outlined.
Justice Ndung'u insisted that the students should have been sent back to school for a year to meet the full requirements of the board.
[caption caption="Six judges of the Supreme Court at the court chambers before the hearing of submissions during the 2017 presidential election petition"]
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