UASU, State strike deal to end university lecturers’ strike

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 29 – University lecturers are expected to return to work on Monday after the government agreed to commit Sh20 billion towards settling a pay dispute that has kept them out of classrooms since October 2.

Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga announced the breakthrough on Wednesday, saying the union would formally terminate the strike on Friday at 3pm after the negotiated terms are documented.

The deal follows weeks of negotiations over the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which had stalled over funding for salary adjustments and other staff benefits.

Wasonga said the union’s technical team would meet on Thursday to put the agreement in writing before the formal declaration ending the industrial action.

He insisted that the Sh20 billion settlement was reached through negotiations, dismissing any suggestion that the government had dictated the terms to the union.

“Today we have agreed on a figure we have negotiated with the government, not a figure imposed on the union,” he said.

The UASU chief credited Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo for facilitating the talks that led to the agreement.

He singled out Mr Ogamba for praise, saying the minister had demonstrated a willingness to honour commitments made during negotiations.

“I want to tell the country CS Ogamba is a man of his word. These things, when we talk, we solve them,” Wasonga said.

He also urged lecturers to prepare to resume teaching, assuring students that classes would restart at the beginning of next week.

“To comrades, start walking towards your universities. I want to assure you that on Monday, you shall have your lessons,” he added.

The parties are yet to publicly disclose how the Sh20 billion will be allocated or when the payments will be made. The technical team is expected to capture the agreed terms in a formal document before the union calls off the strike.

The dispute arose after UASU rejected a Sh9.76 billion offer, arguing that it fell short of the resources required to implement the 2025–2029 CBA.

Apart from salary reviews, the union has been pushing for changes to allowances and improved car loan and mortgage arrangements for university staff.

The lecturers’ strike has also exposed wider challenges facing public universities, including staff shortages, medical insurance concerns and questions over how employees should be funded. UASU has maintained that lecturers’ salaries should be financed through the National Exchequer rather than student fees.

The walkout has disrupted academic programmes in public universities, forcing students to remain away from lecture halls and raising concerns about delays to examinations and the academic calendar.

At the University of Nairobi, students took to the streets on Tuesday to demand an end to the stalemate, saying the prolonged disruption was undermining their studies.

The demonstrations added pressure on the government and the union to reach an agreement and restore normal academic activities.

If the Friday deadline is met, the Sh20 billion deal will bring an end to nearly a month of disrupted learning and allow universities to begin restoring their academic schedules.

The formal signing or documentation of the agreement, followed by UASU’s official strike withdrawal, will be the key steps towards the planned Monday resumption.