By GPC Reporter
Lecturers in Kenya’s public universities are threatening a fresh nationwide strike from October 2 over the stalled 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Through the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), they piled pressure on the government to resolve a dispute that has lingered for nearly a year.
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The union issued a seven-day strike notice on Thursday, saying lecturers would withdraw their services at midnight on October 2 if the outstanding issues are not resolved.
UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the union had been left with little room for further negotiations after the government failed to provide the financial commitment required to conclude the new CBA.
The union says the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) informed university-sector unions on September 21 that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had provided a written commitment that funding for the agreement would come through the National Exchequer.
“National CBAs cannot be funded by individual universities. National CBA is supposed to be funded from the national exchequer,” Wasonga said.
Funding dispute at the centre
The financing of the CBA has emerged as the main sticking point in the negotiations.
UASU wants the government to provide a firm commitment that salaries and other obligations arising from the national agreement will be funded through the Exchequer rather than leaving individual universities to meet the costs from their own revenues and student fees.
The union has also raised concerns over the emerging student-centred funding framework, arguing that universities could struggle to meet their obligations if government funding does not match the costs associated with their growing student populations.
Wasonga has questioned the sustainability of linking university finances too closely to student payments.
“Supposing students don’t pay fees like the way they have not paid now, what will happen to our salaries?” he asked.
He also argued that university staff, as public officers, should not have their remuneration dependent on whether students are able to pay fees.
“Universities employees are public officers. Public officers can either be paid from the consolidated fund or money appropriated by Parliament. We are not going to allow our salaries to be paid from student fees,” Wasonga said.
UASU has further demanded that the proposed Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026, provide adequate safeguards for the financing of staff remuneration.
Staffing and workload concerns
The union also wants the new CBA to address staffing shortages, excessive workloads, medical cover, pension obligations and the growing reliance on part-time lecturers.
UASU says the rapid expansion of university enrolment has not been matched by a corresponding increase in academic staff and facilities.
Wasonga has claimed that some lecturers are handling exceptionally large numbers of students, adding to workload pressures across public universities.
The union has also raised concerns about pension deductions and other statutory obligations, saying financial pressures have affected universities’ ability to meet some of their commitments.
The latest threat comes less than a year after public university lecturers ended a 49-day strike that disrupted learning across the country.
The previous strike began on September 17, 2025, after UASU raised concerns over outstanding payments and the failure to begin negotiations for the 2025–2029 CBA.
The industrial action ended on November 5, 2025, after the government, university councils and unions signed a return-to-work formula.
The agreement was expected to pave the way for negotiations on the new five-year CBA, but the agreement has yet to be concluded.
The current dispute therefore comes against the backdrop of an unresolved agreement that was at the centre of the previous strike.
Seven-day countdown
The latest notice followed an earlier one-month ultimatum issued by UASU on September 18.
At the time, Wasonga gave the government and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum one month to negotiate, sign, register and implement the 2025–2029 CBA, warning that failure would trigger a seven-day strike notice.
That deadline has now been overtaken by the formal strike notice.
UASU says it wants the CBA concluded and implemented, with a clear financial commitment from the government before lecturers return to industrial action.
If no agreement is reached during the seven-day notice period, lecturers in public universities are expected to down their tools from midnight on October 2, potentially disrupting lectures, examinations and other academic activities at a time when universities are admitting and settling new students.
