Moi University lecturers demand Sh9 billion in arrears to end strike
Universities Academic Staff Union said negotiations with the university management, led by Vice Chancellor Prof Kiplagat Kotut, have failed to yield a solution even after more than a week of industrial action.
Lecturers at Moi University are insisting that the institution must pay over Sh9 billion in arrears and implement all their demands before the ongoing strike can end.
University Academic Staff Union (UASU), Moi University chapter, said negotiations with the university management, led by Vice-Chancellor Prof Kiplagat Kotut, have failed to yield a solution even after more than a week of industrial action.
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While addressing the media on Tuesday, branch secretary Wegesa Busolo said that union officials met with the management team in Nairobi for consultations, but the university’s offer fell far short of their expectations.
“The management summoned us for what they termed as consultations, but at the meeting in Nairobi, we could not agree on their offer for us to call off the strike,” he said.
The lecturers are calling for arrears exceeding Sh9 billion, including Sh5 billion meant for unremitted pension contributions, with the remaining funds covering other benefits. Busolo said the failure to remit pensions over the years has left many staff retiring with no financial security.
“The university has failed to remit our pension contributions for many years, and now many of our staff are retiring without any benefits,” he said during a press briefing in Eldoret.
The strike also seeks payment of the delayed June and July 2025 salaries under the 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the full implementation of a return-to-work formula signed on November 30, 2024.
According to Busolo, the 25 clauses in the formula have been ignored by the university.
“They have disregarded everything we agreed on, and we have decided not to engage in futile negotiations while we continue to suffer,” he said.
Busolo further criticised the new management and council at Moi University, saying their arrival worsened staff conditions instead of improving them. “When they came in, the first thing they did was to declare 120 lecturers redundant,” said Busolo.
Moi University has more than 1,000 lecturers who are members of Uasu. The union also alleged that Sh500 million released last year for staff welfare was misused to pay off bank loans instead.
“At Moi University, employees just work and prepare to die without any benefits, including pensions, which have not been remitted for over five years,” Busolo said.
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