Students’ future at stake as university lecturers dig in over CBA dispute

Most students have left the University of Nairobi’s Parklands Campus following a prolonged lecturers’ strike, but Ted Ondari and Peter Kalume remain behind.

The two students, both orphans, have turned to menial jobs in Nairobi to survive the disruption that has kept them out of lecture halls. With their fees partly covered by well-wishers, they say they have nowhere else to go.

“All we want is to get back to classes. Unlike our colleagues who have gone home, we aren’t able to go anywhere. I’m working as a waiter in a restaurant in town,” Ondari told The Eastleigh Voice.

Kalume has found work with a company that provides industrial cleaning services for warehouses. Though the pay is modest, the pair say they are making the most of it to get by.

“We don’t know when this crisis will end. It’s already eaten into the first semester and is now rolling into the next. The government and lecturers’ union must find a solution quickly,” Kalume said.

Talks stall over pay dispute

The students’ concerns come amid a deepening standoff between the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) over the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Lecturers have rejected a Sh3.1 billion counter-offer proposed by SRC and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), calling it inadequate and out of touch with current economic realities.

In a letter dated October 21 to SRC Acting Secretary and CEO Margaret Njoka, UASU Secretary-General Dr Constantine Wasonga said the union had declined the offer and was formally appealing the commission’s guidelines.

“UASU hereby registers complete rejection of the IPUCCF’s counter-offer and formally appeals the guiding SRC beacons for the 2025-29 CBA received on 10 October,” Dr Wasonga wrote.

He argued that the proposals failed to meet the constitutional principles of fair remuneration under Article 41(2)(a), which calls for equitable pay to attract and retain qualified professionals in the public sector.

“The advisory and the attendant counter-offer fail to adhere to the principle of fair remuneration and the constitutional need to attract and retain necessary skills,” he added.

UASU also accused SRC of undermining the right to collective bargaining by presenting fixed figures rather than negotiable ranges, in violation of Article 41(5) of the Constitution.

“The SRC beacons and the entire counter-offer are viewed as an imposition of final positions rather than genuine negotiation,” Dr Wasonga said.

Strike spreads to Technical University (TUK)

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The union further criticised what it described as pay discrimination, noting that teachers had received salary increases of between 12 per cent and 29.5 per cent for the same period.

UASU maintains that such disparities are unfair and demoralising to lecturers who play a vital role in higher education.

With no resolution in sight, the strike has now entered its 34th day. Lecturers say they are prepared to stay out of class until the end of the year if necessary.

A court ruling on the dispute is expected on December 11. The court has directed that if the government fails to resolve the CBA issue within 10 days, it will issue a formal decision.

Meanwhile, lecturers at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) have launched a parallel protest after the institution issued interdiction letters to more than 40 academic staff members for participating in the national strike.

“When we ended our strike in March, we agreed they would pay full salaries from July. It’s now September, and they haven’t honoured that agreement,” said Jacob Musembi, UASU’s national deputy secretary-general.

“They are using interdiction letters to intimidate us. We won’t bow down,” added Fred Sawenja, secretary-general of UASU at TUK.

Lecturers arriving at TUK on Wednesday found the main gate locked and were handed interdiction letters. They have vowed to continue both the national and campus-level strikes until all demands are met.

As protest songs echo across campuses, lecture halls remain deserted, and students like Ondari and Kalume are left waiting for a resolution.