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| UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga |
The University Academic Staff Union (UASU) has dismissed assertions by the Ministry of Education that learning is continuing in some public universities, insisting that no lectures are taking place anywhere in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday, October 29, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga said the union will not call off the strike until all salary arrears amounting to KSh7.9 billion are paid in full and the 2019–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is fully implemented.
The nationwide strike by lecturers and university staff has now entered its 43rd day, paralysing operations in all public universities.
Wesonga rubbished a list released by the ministry indicating that learning was normal in 17 universities, partial in 13, and suspended in 12, accusing the government of spreading misinformation to divide lecturers.
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| UASU members |
“If Alliance, Mang’u, and Starehe have no learning going on, and one day school in a village is teaching, can you say there is learning in Kenya?” Wesonga posed. “If only five universities have no classes, why is the government worried?”
According to UASU, lecturers are standing firm on their demand that the KSh7.9 billion arrears under the 2017–2021 CBA be paid in one instalment, contrary to the government’s proposal to pay in three phases.
“If they pay in three instalments, that means three more strikes. We don’t want our students exposed to disruptions until 2030. We’ll return to class only when the KSh7.9 billion is fully in our bank accounts,” Wesonga said.
UASU has further demanded that the 2019–2025 CBA be implemented in full and that allowances be harmonized across all public universities to end years of pay disparities.
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| UASU members during a past strike |
Meanwhile, at the Technical University of Mombasa (TUM), students have taken to the streets, protesting the ongoing strike that has crippled learning. They urged the government to meet lecturers’ demands, saying the impasse has jeopardized their academic progress.
Despite being listed among institutions where classes are said to have resumed, TUM students insisted that no learning is taking place, calling the Ministry’s report misleading.
With negotiations between the government and university unions having collapsed, the standoff shows no sign of ending soon, leaving thousands of students uncertain about when learning will resume.
“We’re not afraid even if the strike continues into next year,” Wesonga declared, underscoring the lecturers’ resolve.
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