University lecturers’ strike goes into its second full week with no deal made public. A Labour Ministry conciliator is leading talks, and the two sides are still far apart on money
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University lecturers’ strike goes into its second full week with no deal made public. A Labour Ministry conciliator is leading talks, and the two sides are still far apart on money.
The strike by lecturers and other staff at public universities enters its second full week on Monday 12 October. By Sunday evening, neither the unions nor the Government had made a return-to-work deal public.
The strike began on Friday 2 October, after a seven-day notice issued on 24 September ran out. Three unions are involved: the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and KUDHEIHA, which represents other university workers.
What the unions want
A new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for 2025 to 2029, covering pay and allowances.
A written promise of money from the Government to pay for it. UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga says the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury have not honoured the return-to-work deal signed on 5 November 2025, which ended last year's strike.
Salaries paid from the national budget, not passed down to each university to find. The unions fear that would end up on students' fees.
Agreed terms on allowances, car loans and mortgages, medical cover and staffing levels.
What is on offer
The university councils' negotiating body, known as IPUCCF, offered a pay rise of 4 per cent a year. Lecturers turned it down, saying it is below inflation, which was 6.8 per cent in September.
The Government has proposed Sh9.76 billion for the new agreement. UASU says that is not enough and was not negotiated with the unions.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba says all arrears under the 2017 – 2021 and 2021 – 2025 agreements have been paid. He has told lecturers to obey court orders and return to class while talks go on.
Where the talks are
The Ministry of Labour appointed a conciliator, David Njagi, to lead talks between the Government and the unions, The Standard reported on 7 October. Mr Ogamba said then that a decision could come "maybe within the next few days". None has been announced.
Dr Wasonga has said lecturers will stay out "as long as it takes", and has reminded members of a 2003 strike that he says went on for nine months. Last year's strike lasted 49 days.
Who is affected
All 35 public universities are affected and more than 600,000 students are out of lectures, The Mt Kenya Times reported on Thursday. UASU puts the number of lecturers at about 9,000. The University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Moi, Egerton and Laikipia are among the universities named in reports as having no classes. Final-year students fear that December graduations will be pushed back.
The strike is at public universities only. Schools are not affected: the KCSE, KPSEA and KJSEA exams are going ahead on the dates already announced.
What it means for students from Kibra
Do not act on memos shared on WhatsApp. The University of Nairobi had to disown a fake "closure" memo on the first day of the strike. Check your university's own website, student portal or official social media pages.
Do not travel back to campus, or leave it, until your university says so in writing. Universities usually publish a revised calendar once a strike ends.
If you have paid for a hostel or a rented room for the semester, ask now, in writing, what happens to that money if the semester is extended.
If you are due to graduate in December, ask your department what is still needed from you, so that nothing on your side causes a delay when teaching resumes.
Sources: The Standard (conciliation talks); The Eastleigh Voice (Ogamba's statement, the offers); The Mt Kenya Times (universities and students affected); Nairobi Law Monthly (union demands); (fake University of Nairobi memo). KNN could not confirm the outcome of talks held after Thursday 8 October.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The strike by lecturers and other staff at public universities enters its second full week on Monday 12 October. By Sunday evening, neither the unions nor the Government had made a return-to-work deal public.
The strike began on Friday 2 October, after a seven-day notice issued on 24 September ran out. Three unions are involved: the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and KUDHEIHA, which represents other university workers.
What the unions want
A new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for 2025 to 2029, covering pay and allowances.
A written promise of money from the Government to pay for it. UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga says the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury have not honoured the return-to-work deal signed on 5 November 2025, which ended last year’s strike.
Salaries paid from the national budget, not passed down to each university to find. The unions fear that would end up on students’ fees.
Agreed terms on allowances, car loans and mortgages, medical cover and staffing levels.
What is on offer
The university councils’ negotiating body, known as IPUCCF, offered a pay rise of 4 per cent a year. Lecturers turned it down, saying it is below inflation, which was 6.8 per cent in September.
The Government has proposed Sh9.76 billion for the new agreement. UASU says that is not enough and was not negotiated with the unions.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba says all arrears under the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 agreements have been paid. He has told lecturers to obey court orders and return to class while talks go on.
Where the talks are
The Ministry of Labour appointed a conciliator, David Njagi, to lead talks between the Government and the unions, The Standard reported on 7 October. Mr Ogamba said then that a decision could come “maybe within the next few days”. None has been announced.
Dr Wasonga has said lecturers will stay out “as long as it takes”, and has reminded members of a 2003 strike that he says went on for nine months. Last year’s strike lasted 49 days.
Who is affected
All 35 public universities are affected and more than 600,000 students are out of lectures, The Mt Kenya Times reported on Thursday. UASU puts the number of lecturers at about 9,000. The University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Moi, Egerton and Laikipia are among the universities named in reports as having no classes. Final-year students fear that December graduations will be pushed back.
The strike is at public universities only. Schools are not affected: the KCSE, KPSEA and KJSEA exams are going ahead on the dates already announced.
What it means for students from Kibra
Do not act on memos shared on WhatsApp. The University of Nairobi had to disown a fake “closure” memo on the first day of the strike. Check your university’s own website, student portal or official social media pages.
Do not travel back to campus, or leave it, until your university says so in writing. Universities usually publish a revised calendar once a strike ends.
If you have paid for a hostel or a rented room for the semester, ask now, in writing, what happens to that money if the semester is extended.
If you are due to graduate in December, ask your department what is still needed from you, so that nothing on your side causes a delay when teaching resumes.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
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