University students could soon return to class after the government signalled its readiness to address lecturers’ grievances, calling on them to end their strike and resume teaching.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba on Friday, October 23, appealed to university lecturers to return to work as negotiations continue over salary increments and the delayed 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Speaking during a graduation ceremony in Thika, Ogamba said the government had settled all outstanding arrears under the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 CBAs, maintaining that no arrears remained from previous agreements.
He urged the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and individual lecturers to resume their duties while negotiations over the current four-year agreement continue.
“We are committed to the timely negotiation and conclusion of the current CBA. This is why I reiterate my invitation to our university staff unions and individual lecturers to return to work and allow room for negotiations to resolve the pending issues,” he said.
“Let us not interrupt the education of our students over matters that the government has already demonstrated the willingness and readiness to address,” Ogamba added.
The nationwide lecturers’ strike started on October 2, 2026, after negotiations between university staff unions and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum broke down.
The dispute centres on the 2025-2029 CBA, which the unions want negotiated, signed and implemented with firm assurances that the government will provide the necessary funding to honour the agreed terms.
Lecturers have dismissed the government's proposed salary increases, with UASU demanding basic salary increments ranging from 36 per cent to 68 per cent, depending on employees' job grades.
The unions are also pushing for improved allowances and benefits, including better medical insurance, car loans, mortgage facilities and enhanced pension arrangements.
They have further called for the recruitment of additional staff to address personnel shortages and reduce the heavy workloads facing lecturers in public universities.
Another key demand is a written government commitment guaranteeing that salaries and other financial obligations arising from the new CBA will be funded through the National Exchequer, rather than depending on revenue collected from university fees.
Meanwhile, Ogamba said the government had recruited additional trainers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions to ease teaching and supervision workloads.
He noted that the recruitment was intended to ensure trainers could adequately support trainees while improving the delivery of instruction in the institutions.
