The standoff between university lecturers and the government intensified as more than 40 academic staff members at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) were interdicted for participating in a nationwide strike that has now entered its fifth week.
Lecture halls across the country remain empty as members of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) continue to demand the release of KSh7.9 billion in salary arrears, as agreed upon in the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
At TUK, interdicted lecturers arrived to find the university’s main gate locked and were served with formal suspension notices. The move sparked an immediate campus-level protest, with staff accusing the administration of intimidation and bad faith.
“They always wait until we have given a strike notice, that is when the wake up and start threatening members of the staff,” said Fred Sawenja, secretary general, UASU, TUK.
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“Now you’re efficient at interdictions, but not at paying our salaries?”
Lecturers’ Strike Goes On
TUK staff said they will not return to work until all issues outlined in their strike notice are addressed, including an end to half-salary payments and the enforcement of previously agreed terms.
As the impasse drags on, attention turns to a court ruling scheduled for December 11, which unions hope will force the government’s hand.
Until then, both national and institutional protests are expected to continue.
“The people we are demanding our rights from are harassing us,” Andrew Musungu said. “They wait for a strike notice to act otherwise, they remain asleep.”
The ongoing crisis has cast a shadow over the future of public higher education in Kenya, with students caught in limbo and no clear resolution in sight.
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“We are simply asking for what was promised,” said one striking lecturer. “Instead, we’re being locked out of our institutions.”
UASU Three Demands
UASU outlined three key grievances that remain unresolved, despite a court directive stating that the SRC should collaborate with the IPUCCF Implementation Committee, the Ministry of Education, and the Treasury to provide the additional budgetary allocation necessary for implementing the CBAs.
- Failure to implement the 2021-2025 Phase Two CBA arrears amounting to Ksh2.73 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year.
- Failure to negotiate, conclude, register, and implement the 2025-2029 National CBA in line with the Recognition Agreement signed on October 28, 2019, between UASU and the Inter-Public Universities’ Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF).
- Failure to implement the 2017-2021 CBA, despite rulings by the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC CBA Nos. 1, 2, and 3 of 2020), which directed the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to work with IPUCCF, the Ministry of Education, and the Treasury to provide the necessary budgetary allocation.
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