"Pay us or we strike": Lecturers threaten a fresh January strike

Lecturers could be back on the streets in January, paralysing teaching and learning in public universities, amid growing frustration over the government’s possible failure to honour key promises.

The Standard has established that uncertainty now clouds the payment of lecturers’ long-awaited arrears, after Members of Parliament prepare to go on recess this Friday without approving a supplementary budget — raising the likelihood of fresh strikes in January.

The Sh3.85 billion due to university staff by December 31 was expected to be factored into a budgetary increment under a supplementary budget.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba had earlier told Parliament that the ministry could not raise such a substantial amount without an additional allocation, making the supplementary budget the only viable funding route.

However, with MPs set to break until February without passing any extra funds, the fate of the first tranche of the Sh7.7 billion owed to lecturers now hangs in the balance.

UASU Organising Secretary Onesmus Mutio said lecturers are now waiting for the government to release the December payment, warning that a failure to do so will force them back to the streets.

“If the money does not come by December 31, we will have no option but to resume industrial action early next year,” he said.

But that’s not all — the university unions are equally facing anxiety as the 30-day window for concluding negotiations on the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) closes without any substantive progress.

The talks, which were expected to conclude by the end of November, have yet to begin, further intensifying fears of another standoff with the government.

With only two days left before the lapse of the 30-day window granted for negotiations on the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), anxiety is mounting within university staff unions over the stalled talks.

A letter seen by The Standard dated November 30, 2025, from Taita Taveta University Vice Chancellor Prof. Fred Simiyu Barasa, who also chairs the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) Joint Negotiations Committee, shows that the negotiation process is stalled at the preliminary stage.

In the letter, Prof. Barasa stated that public universities had requested a counter-proposal after the three lecturers' unions declined an earlier proposal that suggested a three percent salary increment.

“In light of the responses by the three (3) Trade Unions, IPUCCF submitted an appeal to SRC on 18th November 2025 requesting a review of the 2025–2029 CBA advisory,” the letter reads.

In response, the SRC, in a letter dated November 20, confirms receipt of the appeal but gives no clarity on when the review will be completed.

“We acknowledge receipt of your letter… dated 18th November 2025 on the above subject. Please note that the Commission is looking into the submission, the outcome of which will be communicated to you in due course,” the letter signed by Margaret Njoka states.

This means the negotiations cannot proceed until SRC issues the revised advisory, effectively halting the entire CBA process beyond the November deadline.

According to the return-to-work formula that ended the lecturers’ last strike, the government committed to settling arrears in two phases: Sh3.85 billion by December 31, 2025, and another tranche in July 2026.

These were part of the resolutions by the committee that ended the 49-day strike.

Treasury CS John Mbadi, while appearing before Parliament on November 4, argued that the government was not in a position to make a one-off payment of the amount due to the financial realities in the country.

“Our economy is still fragile. We almost defaulted on our loans last year. If we are not careful, we could slide back into a financial crisis,” Mbadi warned, noting that the increment will be factored into the upcoming supplementary budget.

The effects could see teaching and learning paralysed yet again in universities that are working to recover time lost in the September–December semester.

The Standard has established that some universities have proposed the extension of the semester to late December, while others have opted to close and take the end-of-semester examinations in January as part of the time-recovery plan.

However, with the anticipated strike, this could be further complicated.