The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has issued a seven-day nationwide strike notice, with lecturers in public universities set to down their tools from midnight on Friday, October 2, 2026.
In an announcement on September 24, the union said the strike follows the failure by university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury to honour the Return-to-Work Formula signed on November 5, 2025.
“The strike shall commence at midnight next Friday 2nd October 2026. This painful decision follows the persistent failure by the councils of universities, the Ministry of Education, and the National Treasury to honour the Return-to-Work Formula signed on 5th November 2025,” read part of the announcement.
UASU is protesting the failure to conclude negotiations on the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The union said the Government has yet to table a financial counterproposal nearly a year after negotiations began.
UASU Issues Demands to Govt
According to the union, it is also demanding a commitment from the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury that the CBA will be funded through the National Exchequer.
It wants the Government to maintain the public officer status of public university lecturers and include a provision in the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026, safeguarding the remuneration of academic staff through the Exchequer.
UASU is further demanding meaningful participation in the development of human resource instruments for public universities to protect the rights of academic staff.
UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) informed university-sector unions on September 21 that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had provided a written commitment that funding for the CBA would come through the National Exchequer.
According to UASU, SRC said the absence of such a commitment prevented it from issuing the constitutional advice required to facilitate financial counter-proposals to the unions.
“On Monday, 21st September 2026, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) disclosed to the Unions in the university sector that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had given a written commitment that funding for public universities CBAs will be provided through the National Exchequer,” reads part of the announcement.
University Funding
The union said the disclosure had raised questions over the progress of negotiations held at Machakos University since last year.
UASU further opposed what it described as indications that funding for public university lecturers could be sourced from student fees and market-based funding.
The union maintained that academic staff in public universities are public officers and that the National Exchequer should fund their remuneration.
It also criticized Government officials for directing unions to rely on social media statements regarding the proposed funding model for university students, saying the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026 had not yet been enacted.
Govt Releases Two CBA Arrears
On August 11, UASU announced that funds for outstanding arrears arising from the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements have been disbursed.
Wasonga said that public universities were expected to begin processing outstanding CBA payments following the release of funds by the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education.
Under the payment arrangements, Joint Local Implementation Committees (JLICs) were to oversee the disbursement of the arrears to staff in line with the respective CBAs and guidance from the National Implementation Committee (NIC).
An audit and verification exercise covering 38 public universities and constituent colleges had found that staff were owed KSh7.94 billion in arrears under the 2017–2021 CBA.
Implementation of the agreement was estimated to cost KSh16.57 billion, against Government funding of KSh8.81 billion. The allocation comprised KSh6.61 billion under the first tranche and KSh2.21 billion under the second tranche.
Of the outstanding amount, KSh7.76 billion had been owed by the Government, with KSh7.15 billion directly linked to pending government funding.
Universities had also spent KSh616.2 million from their own resources to meet CBA obligations beyond Government allocations.
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