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Crisis looms in varsities as Uasu issues 7-day strike notice over Sh11.5 bn arrears
From left: Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) National Chairperson, Dr Grace Nyongesa, Secretary-General Dr Constantine Wasonga, and Organising Secretary Onesmus Mutio hold hands in solidarity at the union head office in Nairobi on September 10, 2025.
Lecturers in public universities have given the government seven days to pay the salary arrears agreed upon last year, failure to which they will paralyse learning in all 37 public universities and constituent colleges.
The strike notice was issued by the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu), citing failure to implement key provisions of the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that were agreed upon after a strike. The lecturers also complained of delays in concluding negotiations for a subsequent CBA.
Uasu is demanding the immediate implementation of the 2021–2025 Phase Two CBA arrears for the 2025/2026 financial year, which amount to Sh2.73 billion, as well as the negotiation, conclusion, and registration of the 2025–2029 national CBA.
In the deal signed last year, the government was to pay the lecturers in phases. The first phase of Sh3.4 billion was paid in January 2025, the other scheduled payment of 2.73 billion scheduled to be paid in June 2025 and the third phase for 2026/2027 (Sh2.73) in September. However, this has not been done.
Speaking during a press briefing at the headquarters of the union in Nairobi on Wednesday, the national secretary-general Dr Constantine Wasonga accused the government of “perpetual neglect” of the welfare of dons, noting that members had lost patience after years of unfulfilled promises.
“We hereby issue a seven-day written strike notice with effect from today to all councils of public universities and constituent colleges over failure to negotiate, conclude, register and implement the 2025–2029 National Collective Bargaining Agreement as per the law and the recognition agreement executed on October 28 2019 between Uasu and the Inter-Public Universities’ Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF),” said Dr Wasonga.
“Our members are tired. We cannot wait any longer. Every time we sit at the table, agreements are only honoured after we go on strike. It has become the only language the government seems to understand,” he added.
The strike notice comes just days after universities reopened for the new academic year, raising fears of fresh disruptions to learning. The union further accused state agencies, including the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), the Ministry of Education, and the Treasury, of ignoring binding court orders. In previous judgments, he said the Employment and Labour Relations Court directed that additional budgetary allocations be made to fully implement the 2017–2021 CBA.
“The court was very clear that the SRC should work together with the IPUCCF Implementation Committee, the Ministry of Education and the Treasury to make provision for the additional budgetary allocation necessary for implementation of the CBAs. To date, nothing has been done,” Dr Wasonga said.
He also dismissed suggestions that Uasu members were rushing into industrial action and said that the union had engaged for years of dialogue without meaningful results.
“Don’t be surprised. We are used to this cycle — in public universities, there has never been a negotiation concluded without a strike. It has become the norm; almost like a game we are forced to play every year. And since this is the approach they insist on, we are now taking the fight to the very root of the problem,” he said.
If no intervention to avert the strike is made, it is scheduled to begin on September 17 2025, threatening to cripple operations in all public universities across the country. Learning, research, and administrative functions are expected to stall, disrupting thousands of students already grappling with a packed academic calendar.
“This strike will not be called off until the arrears are paid. The Sh8.8 billion arrears for the 2017–2021 CBAs must also be implemented in full, and negotiations on the 2025–2029 CBA are concluded. We will not resume duty until our issues are addressed,” Dr Wasonga declared.
“Our members cannot continue to work while their negotiated benefits remain outstanding. These arrears have left dons bankrupt, and we will not resume duty until they are paid,” he added.
Sh1m by 2029
In the proposed 2025–2029 CBA, Uasu is pushing for salary increases, higher allowances, and expanded retirement and death benefits. If granted, graduate assistants would see their basic pay rise from Sh63,647 to Sh86,594, while professors could earn up to Sh305,610 before allowances, with top earners projected to reach nearly Sh1 million by 2029.
The package also includes a Sh60,000 commuter allowance, improved housing benefits, new ICT and book allowances, an extended retirement age of up to 74 years, and death benefits covering 96 months’ salary plus Sh80,000 for burial expenses.
UASU maintained that the industrial action was lawful, citing Article 41 of the Constitution, which grants every worker the right to fair labour practices, including the right to strike, as well as Section 76 of the Labour Relations Act on protected strikes.
“We have issued the required notice. We have exhausted dialogue. If the government continues to ignore us, then the responsibility for the disruption lies squarely with them,” he said.
