The lecturers’ long strike may finally be over after a high-level meeting between the Ministry of Education, the National Treasury, Parliament, and the Universities Academic Staff Union indicated a way out of the 48-day standoff.
On Tuesday, November 4, the National Assembly Committee on Education held a closed-door session that brought together key players in the crisis that has paralyzed learning in public universities for weeks.
After the meeting, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga said he would call the union’s leadership to consider a possible suspension of the strike.
“For the sake of the children and students of this country, we are going to convene as the organs of the union so that we can reconsider,” said Wesonga, who hinted at a softening stance.
The Education Committee led the talks in order to find a lasting solution after months of tension over unsettled dues and collective bargaining agreements that were not implemented.
However, Wesonga did not hold back from demanding accountability, calling on the Ministry of Education to issue an apology over what he termed threats and intimidation of striking lecturers.
He further accused the Inter-Public Universities Council Consultative Forum of mishandling university staff, saying this had “deeply demoralised” lecturers.
The disagreement at the center of the standoff is over arrears amounting to KSh7.9 billion. The government proposed a 50-50 percent phased payment, but Wesonga held his ground, insisting on an 80-20 formula as the union’s “irreducible minimum.”
“The worst of the worst is 80-20. They give us 80 percent now, about KSh5 billion and the remaining KSh2 billion can go to 2026/2027. That is my irreducible minimum, for the sake of you, Mr Chair, the Committee members and the students of this country,” Wesonga told the committee.
But the Treasury officials also cautioned that not everything would be disbursed at one go because of certain budgetary and procedural limitations.
Although the source could not say when UASU would meet to chart the next steps, sources within the union say that its leadership is under pressure from members to get tangible commitments before calling off the strike.
The strike began at the end of September because the government, despite repeated negotiations, had not fully implemented three successive CBAs: 2017–2021, 2021–2025, and 2025–2029.
The courts earlier in the strike directed the lecturers to resume duty and engage the government in talks, but eventually the directive was largely ignored amidst mounting frustrations.
For now, hopes rest on the latest round of talks to bring learning back to normal in Kenya’s public universities and to finally restore calm to a sector that has been on edge for weeks.
