Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has urged striking university lecturers to obey court orders and return to work, saying the government remains committed to resolving their grievances through negotiations.
Ogamba said the government had demonstrated its commitment to safeguarding the welfare of university staff by clearing outstanding arrears arising from previous Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).
Speaking during celebrations to mark World Teachers’ Day at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, the Cabinet Secretary said all arrears under the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 CBAs had been fully settled.
“As we speak today, all arrears under the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 CBAs have been fully cleared,” Ogamba said.
“We have resolved the problem of historical arrears under the CBAs.”
The CS said the government was now committed to ensuring that future agreements were negotiated and concluded on time, including the 2025–2029 CBA currently at the centre of the lecturers’ dispute.
“It is with this same spirit that we are committed to timely negotiations and conclusion of Collective Bargaining Agreements including the 2025–2029 CBAs,” he said.
Ogamba called on university staff unions and individual lecturers to reciprocate what he termed the government’s good faith by complying with court orders and resuming teaching.
“I therefore call upon all university staff unions and individual lecturers to reciprocate this good faith, obey court orders and return to work,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary said the ongoing strike should not disrupt the education of university students, particularly when the government had demonstrated its willingness to resolve the lecturers’ concerns at the negotiating table.
“Let us not interrupt the education of our children, our students on matters that the government has demonstrated and is willing to resolve at the negotiating table,” he said.
His remarks come amid a nationwide strike by members of the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), who downed their tools over the delayed implementation and negotiation of the 2025–2029 CBA.
UASU Secretary General Dr Constantine Wasonga said the union had exhausted available channels of engagement and could no longer postpone industrial action over delays by university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury.
Wasonga said the union was particularly opposed to a proposed Sh9.76 billion allocation expected to form part of the government’s offer during negotiations in Machakos, arguing that the amount was inadequate to finance the four-year agreement.
“The figure of Sh9.76 billion they are proposing in Machakos, the union is going to reject it. A CBA of four years cannot consume Sh9.76 billion,” Wasonga said.
He said the proposed allocation was comparable to the amount used to implement the previous agreement despite the new CBA covering a longer period.
“When we negotiated the 2021–2025 CBA, for two years we consumed Sh9.7 billion, so we cannot imagine a CBA for four years can also consume Sh9.7 billion,” he said.
