Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has called on striking university lecturers to return to work, saying the government has met its commitments on outstanding salary arrears.
Ogamba made the call on Monday, October 5, during the World Teachers Day celebrations, three days after lecturers in public universities began a nationwide strike.
The CS said the government had cleared all arrears arising from the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).
“The government has committed to safeguarding the welfare of all our lecturers and has demonstrated this commitment through action. As we speak today, all arrears under the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 CBAs have been cleared,” Ogamba said.
He said the government was also committed to negotiating future agreements on time, including the 2025-2029 CBA.
“It is with this same spirit that we are committed to timely negotiations and conclusion of all future negotiations CBAs, including the 2025-2029 CBA,” he added.
Ogamba asked the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and individual lecturers to obey existing court orders and resume teaching.
He also urged the lecturers to consider the effect of the strike on students as negotiations with the government continue.
“I therefore call UASU and individual lecturers to reciprocate this good faith, obey court orders and return to work. Let us not interrupt the education of our students over matters that the government has demonstrated that it is ready and willing to resolve at the negotiating table,” he said.
Why lecturers are on strike
Public university lecturers, who are members of UASU and KUSU, initiated their strike countrywide Friday October 2.
The unions claim that the strike results from the nonimplementation of the 2025-2029 CBA.
The UASU Secretary General, Constantine Wasonga, has further accused university councils, the ministry of education, and national treasury for failing to honor the return-to-work formula signed November 5, 2025.
The union claims that negotiations on the 2025-2029 CBA have been ongoing since last year and no counterproposal by the government.
UASU has maintained that the failure to resolve the outstanding issues forced its members to down their tools.
The dispute has disrupted learning in public universities across the country as the government and lecturers remain under pressure to reach an agreement.
