Kenya’s public universities resumed yesterday after a month-long shutdown, yet lecturers are already threatening to walk out again over unresolved pay disputes
By Ruth Omaiko
Kenya’s public universities reopened yesterday after a month of empty lecture halls, with students returning to class on Monday following the end of a nationwide lecturers’ strike that paralysed teaching, examinations, research and graduation ceremonies across the country.
The strike, called on 2nd October by three unions — the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA) — was triggered by the government’s failure to implement the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
It ended on 30th October after the government committed KSh 20 billion to fund the CBA, to be disbursed in three annual phases, alongside a 3.5 per cent basic salary increase backdated to July 2025.
“We have achieved the objectives of our strike. Prepare to go to class,” UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wesonga announced.
The relief, however, may be short-lived. Appearing before the National Assembly committees on education and labour on Wednesday, Wesonga flagged two unresolved issues — plans to fund lecturers’ salaries from student fees, and KSh 100 billion in outstanding pension and salary remittances. “The storm might have subsided, but there are two issues that will make us rise again,” he told parliament.
Labour Committee chairperson Ken Chonga warned the deal remains vulnerable without Treasury backing. Education Committee chairperson Julius Melly assured unions parliament would secure the first KSh 6.7 billion tranche through the supplementary budget.
Students have returned — but with one eye on December examinations and the other on a government whose promises have a habit of arriving late.
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