The Council for Legal Education has listed several universities whose authority to run law programmes expired in December, placing some of the country’s best-known institutions in a wait-and-see position as audits and reviews continue.
Among those affected are the University of Nairobi (UoN) and Moi University, whose licences for their law schools ran out on December 10, 2025.
The two institutions submitted applications for renewal a month earlier, but the Council said the process has not been finalised.
“Institution (UoN) applied for renewal on November 14, 2025. Application for renewal of licence under review. Pending audit and inspection by the Council,” states part of the notice issued by CLE Chief Executive Officer Prof Jack Mwimali on December 31, 2025.
Chuka University has also been flagged after its licence expired on the same date.
While the university paid for the renewal of its licence in April last year, the Council noted that the required documents to support the application have not yet been submitted.
The notice further shows that two private universities based in Kajiado County have not secured renewed approval.
UMMA University applied for renewal on September 18, 2025, and is scheduled for an audit on January 20, while African Nazarene University submitted its application on November 17, 2025 and is still awaiting inspection.
At the same time, the Council outlined institutions that are fully compliant to offer legal training at different levels. Four universities are licensed to run Master of Laws programmes.
These are Mt Kenya University, the Catholic University of East Africa, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, and Strathmore School of Law.
For Diploma in Law courses, valid licences have been issued to four institutions, namely the Kenya School of Law, Kisii University, the Catholic University of East Africa, and Mt Kenya University.
The Council also confirmed that sixteen universities have met all requirements to offer Bachelor of Laws degrees.
These include Egerton University, Kabarak University, the Catholic University of East Africa, Strathmore University, Maseno University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Riara University, Kenyatta University, South Eastern University of Kenya in Kitui, Daystar University, the University of Embu, Kisii University, Mt Kenya University, Zetech University in Thika, Tom Mboya University in Homabay, and Tharaka University.
The Legal Education Act assigns the Council for Legal Education the role of licensing institutions that provide legal education and requires it to publish a list of compliant universities in the Kenya Gazette and a national daily.
