University lecturers to get salary increases of up to Sh74,000

University lecturers are set to smile their way to the bank under a new pay deal that will see the lowest-paid staff get a monthly salary increase of nearly Sh10,000, while the highest-paid professor gains an additional Sh74,072.

The negotiations, which went deep into Friday night, secured a 3.5 per cent salary increment across the board, alongside an additional five per cent annual adjustment to cushion university staff against inflation, economic shocks and the rising cost of living.

The agreement will also see the lowest-paid university employees receive at least Sh18,000 in commuter allowance, although the previous rate and the corresponding allowances for other job groups are yet to be established.

The Standard has established that the Sh20 billion deal will be implemented in three phases, with the government also committing to clear salary arrears dating back to July 2025, when the new CBA was due to take effect.

The outstanding arrears covering the period between July 2025 and 2026 will be paid in three equal instalments.

Under the proposed salary structure, graduate assistants at the lowest notch, currently earning Sh63,647, will see their basic monthly pay rise to Sh73,038 by 2029, an increase of Sh9,391.

For tutorial fellows and assistant lecturers, the lowest basic salary will increase from Sh107,872 to Sh123,788, translating into an additional Sh15,916 every month.

Lecturers and research fellows will see their minimum basic salary rise from Sh121,928 to Sh139,917, an increase of Sh17,989.

Senior lecturers will move from a minimum basic salary of Sh154,739 to Sh177,568, gaining Sh22,829 monthly.

Associate professors will earn a minimum of Sh221,684, up from Sh193,182, representing an increase of Sh28,502.

Professors, who occupy the highest academic job group, will see their minimum basic salary increase from Sh224,631 to Sh257,772, an additional Sh33,141.

At the top of the salary structure, the gains are significantly higher.

A graduate assistant at the highest salary notch will earn Sh124,929, up from Sh97,988, while the highest-paid lecturer will move from Sh187,710 to Sh239,312.

Senior lecturers at the highest notch will earn Sh303,707, compared to the current Sh238,221.

For associate professors, the highest basic salary will rise from Sh297,403 to Sh379,160, an increase of Sh81,757.

Professors at the highest notch will take home Sh419,888 in basic monthly salary, up from Sh345,816, representing a gain of Sh74,072.

The salary increases will be spread across the four-year agreement, running from 2025/2026 to 2028/2029.

The month-long lecturers’ strike  comes to an end after the Government offered a new Sh20 billion pay deal,

Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the union would meet government officials to formalise the agreement before calling off the strike, which has disrupted learning for more than 600,000 students.

“We have a deal on financials. Tomorrow our technical committee is going to meet to put what we agreed on paper,” Wasonga said.

The negotiations were spearheaded by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo.

The payments are expected to be made in phases, although the details of the implementation are yet to be formalised.

The anticipated return to class offers relief to students whose academic programmes have been interrupted, with universities now facing the task of determining how to recover lost teaching time and complete outstanding academic activities.

Before the latest breakthrough, university staff had warned that a prolonged strike could force institutions to revise their academic calendars, extend semesters and postpone examinations, with possible knock-on effects on subsequent academic sessions.

The disruption had also raised concerns over delayed graduation clearance, with students awaiting the resolution of missing marks, completion of examinations and other academic requirements facing uncertainty over when they would graduate.

However, the extent of the disruption will depend on how quickly universities resume teaching and how institutions adjust their academic schedules to accommodate the lost time.

The strike involved nearly 10,000 lecturers and followed the failure to conclude the 2025–2029 CBA, despite a return-to-work formula signed between UASU and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum on November 5, 2025.

Under that agreement, the parties had committed to concluding the CBA before the end of 2025.