University lecturers have filed a case in court seeking the imprisonment of three Cabinet Secretaries for failing to implement orders given by the Employment and Labour Relations Court on their salary review.
The dispute over pay is the cause of the ongoing strike by the lecturers that has grounded learning in all public universities . The case has been filed by the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu), which also called the strike that began on September 17. The union wants Education CS Julius Migos Ogamba, Treasury CS John Mbadi, and Labour CS Alfred Mutua jailed for what it terms “blatant defiance of court orders”.
Also listed are Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor; Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Secretary Margaret Njoka; Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) chairperson, Prof Fred Simiyu Barasa; and IPUCCF secretary, Prof Daniel Mugendi.
In the suit filed by Uasu lawyer Titus Koceyo, the union argues that the top government officials failed to implement payment of the Phase II arrears of the 2021-2025 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), amounting to Sh2.73 billion.
Universities Academic Staff Union National Chairperson Grace Nyongesa, Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga, and Organizing Secretary Onesmus Mutio at the UASU head office in Nairobi on September 10, 2025, where they issued a strike notice.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation
Mr Koceyo told Justice Stephen Radido that the officials had also failed to fully implement the 2017-2021 CBA, despite a judgment delivered on July 3, 2020. Pressing for punishment of the alleged contemnors, Mr Koceyo noted that the court had directed the SRC to work together with the IPUCCF Implementation Committee, the Ministry of Education, and the Treasury to make provisions for additional budgetary allocation necessary for the implementation of the CBAs.
Uasu further accuses the government officials of failing to negotiate, conclude, register, and implement the 2025-2029 national CBA, contrary to the law and the recognition agreement signed on October 28, 2019 between the union and the IPUCCF.
The union now wants Justice Radido to compel Mr Ogamba, Mr Mbadi, Dr Mutua, Prof Mugendi, Ms Oduor, Ms Njoka, and Prof Barasa to personally appear in court on October 6, 2025, to explain why they should not be jailed for six months for openly defying a court order.
Lecturers march on the streets in Mombasa on September 17, 2025 when their nationwide strike began.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation
“That the alleged contemnors be punished for contempt of court by committal to civil jail for a period not exceeding six months, or be directed to pay a fine of Sh200,000 each, in accordance with the law,” Uasu pleads in the suit papers.
Uasu argues that the announcement created the impression that “this dispute is now spent and settled, with no pending issues to be determined by a conciliator upon release of the funds”.
In the suit, the universities’ council forum has been named as the respondent, while the Ministry of Education, National Treasury and Economic Planning, SRC, and the Ministry of Labour are listed as interested parties.
Uasu accuses IPUCCF of misleading the court by concealing that there was no trade dispute regarding the 2017-2021 CBA capable of undergoing further reconciliation.
The union insists the matter had been litigated all the way to the Court of Appeal, adding that a conciliator cannot rewrite a duly registered CBA or overturn a legal opinion issued by the Attorney-General.
Lecturers march in Kisumu County on September 17, 2025 as they officially begin a nationwide strike.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation
Two days after the industrial action by university staff had commenced, the Labour court suspended it and directed the disputing parties to resolve the matter through conciliation. However, the union has said it will not call off the strike until their demands are met.
In his supporting affidavit, Uasu Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said that the union is dissatisfied with the order, saying it was obtained through deliberate concealment of facts.
“The claimant (IPUCCF) concealed from this court that there is no trade dispute as regards the 2017-2021 CBA capable of undergoing further reconciliation as the same had been reconcilliated upon, taken through the ELRC, CBA registered, taken through the Court of Appeal and legal opinion by the Attorney-General rendered on it,” he says.
On Monday, in a letter to the conciliator Richard Litaba of the State Department of Labour, Dr Wasonga sought to be issued with a certificate of conciliation to clear the air.
Last week during a media briefing, Uasu said that despite the union submitting their proposal for the 2021-2025 CBA in good time, the deal was signed on November 23, 2024, with the government committing to pay in phases. Phase I of Sh3.4 billion was paid in January 2025, Phase II of Sh2.73 billion was due in July and Phase III in September.
In the proposed 2025-2029 CBA, the union is pushing for upward adjustments of salaries and allowances as well as 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 take home nearly Sh1 million by 2029.
Lecturers march in Kisumu County on September 17, 2025 as they officially begin a nationwide strike.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation
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, death benefits covering 96 months’ salary plus Sh80,000 for burial expenses.
The basic salary and house allowances for university staff are determined by unions and Inter-IPUCCF on the advice of the salaries’ commission and with the concurrence of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and the National Treasury.
