Lecturers issue seven-day strike notice over unmet pay deal
Education
By
Lewis Nyaundi
| Sep 10, 2025
Teaching and learning could be disrupted in all public universities from next week, after lecturers issued a seven-day strike notice.
They said the planned paralysis is occasioned by unmet pay demands.
The possible shutdown comes barely two weeks after the institutions reopened for the new academic year.
The strike action will affect more than 500,000 students enrolled in public universities.
There are over 9,000 lecturers spread across the country’s 40 public universities and constituent colleges, all of whom are expected to down tools if the union makes good its threat.
READ MORE
Why two, three-bedroom units offer sweeter deal for property investors
Kenya set for first maritime training vessel from South Korea
Cost of property on the rise as development projects take shape in Murang'a
Why tenants in Africa pay rent years in advance
Deep-pocketed foreign banks beat Kenyan rivals with cheaper loan rates
UN to spend Sh43b on renovation, construction of offices at Gigiri
State urged to lift restrictions on drone deliveries
Safaricom unveils offer for digital taxi drivers, boda riders
'This is my plea': Exiting Afreximbank chief calls on African banks to close trade finance gap
Paratus group expands East Africa footprint with high-speed fibre connectivity
In the formal strike notice filed with the Ministry of Labour, the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) demands for Sh11.5 billion arrears from two different pay deals.
“Our members in all public universities and constituent colleges shall withdraw their labour effective seven days from the date hereof, until the arrears under the 2017–2021 CBA amounting to Sh8.8 billion, together with the Sh2.7 billion balance, are fully paid into their accounts and negotiations for the 2025–2029 CBA are concluded,” the notice reads.
The bulk of the amount, Sh8.8 billion, is part of unpaid dues from a pay deal that served between 2017 and 2022.
However, the amount was earlier contested, but the courts ruled in favour of the lecturers.
The remaining balance of Sh2.7 billion is unpaid from the 2021/2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
And the lecturers union now say that unless the amount is fully paid they will paralyse university operations.
UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga on Wednesday blamed the government for lacking good faith to pay lecturers their funds.
“The Sh2.7 billion must hit our members’ bank accounts. The Sh8.8 billion arrears for the 2017-2021 CBA must also be paid,” he said in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Wasonga said the government had failed to respect both a court order and the spirit of negotiations.
The union says the delayed implementation of the 2017–2021 collective bargaining agreement, which the Employment and Labour Relations Court ordered to be honoured in 2020.
To date, the union says, neither the Inter-Public Universities Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) nor the Treasury has acted.
“It is clear. Dons are tired. We cannot wait any longer,” Dr. Wasonga said.
“Don’t be surprised because we are used to this game. There is no CBA in public universities that we have negotiated without going on strike. Since it is what they want, now we are taking the game to their doorstep.”
If the lecturers make good their threat, the strike will paralyse lectures, halt research, and disrupt graduations.
Despite a series of meetings with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, UASU says the government has only issued “PR letters” without concrete commitments.
“Before those issues are addressed, we are not going to have learning in the public universities,” Dr. Wasonga warned.
MOST READ
Why two, three-bedroom units offer sweeter deal for property investors
REAL ESTATE
By Graham Kajilwa