Public university lecturers will remain on strike after the government and staff unions failed to agree on a settlement, with the rejection of a reported Sh12 billion offer leaving the dispute over pay and employment terms unresolved.
The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) rejected the proposal during talks on Monday, October 12, saying the negotiations must address the specific grievances raised by staff rather than revolve around a single financial offer for the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the amount did not meet the union’s demands. “The counteroffer from the government is awfully inadequate, and we have rejected it in total,” Wasonga stated.
The latest breakdown is the second failed attempt to resolve the dispute since lecturers began a nationwide strike on October 2. With no agreement reached, students face continued disruption to teaching and uncertainty over when classes will resume.
The unions have also raised concerns about the funding and implementation of the new CBA. UASU accuses university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury of failing to honour a Return-to-Work Formula signed on November 5, 2025.
The union also says the government has yet to submit a financial counter-proposal for the 2025-2029 agreement, despite negotiations having been under way since last year. It wants the outstanding issues negotiated directly and resolved through an agreement that can be implemented.
The government, however, has pointed to payments made under previous agreements as evidence of its efforts to address lecturers’ grievances. On October 5, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba urged lecturers to return to work, saying the ministry had cleared arrears arising from the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 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 stated.
The government’s position has not secured the unions’ agreement to end the current industrial action, which centres on the terms and funding of the new CBA rather than arrears under the previous agreements alone.
The latest failed negotiations leave both sides facing pressure to find a settlement that addresses the unions’ demands and allows learning to resume in public universities.
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