Moi University workers resume strike after government fails to honour return-to-work agreement
The unions have directed their members to stay away from work until further instructions are issued.
Moi University is once again facing a disruption of its academic activities after workers declared the resumption of their strike on Friday, January 10.
This comes just a month after a deal with the government briefly ended a three-month-long strike that had crippled the institution.
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In a notice signed by the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) chapter secretary and Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) branch secretary, the strike was called following the government's failure to honour the terms of the return-to-work formula agreed upon in late 2024.
"Following a meeting of all members of staff of Moi University, it has been decided that the industrial action commenced last year in August 2024 be resumed with immediate effect," reads the notice.
The unions have directed their members to stay away from work until further instructions are issued.
The move comes barely a month after the university signed a deal with the government to end the previous strike which had severely affected learning.
On November 30, 2024, a deal was signed, with Education CS Julius Ogamba and Principal Secretary for Higher Education Beatrice Inyangala present at the signing ceremony.
The agreement promised Sh500 million in immediate government funding, among other commitments.
Following the deal, over 900 university heads and 2,300 workers returned to their posts.
However, the university workers are now saying the agreement signed in November did not address the specific issues they have raised.
"We began our strike on August 26, and we will continue because we have our demands that we gave to the management of Moi University and we want to let you know that we have not received any solutions to them," said Busolo Wekesa, UASU secretary-general for Moi University.
The strike that started in August 2024 had already sparked protests, with both students and workers joining in demonstrations against the university’s management.
As a result, the university closed its doors temporarily, and over 1,000 academic staff received hiatus letters for failing to report to work.
The renewed strike raises concern that students will once again miss classes, following the disruption caused by the earlier strike.
If the situation is not resolved quickly, students could face prolonged academic delays, with some medical students already having overstayed in the institution for up to nine years without graduating.
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