The University of Nairobi has warned students and parents against a fake internal memo circulating on social media claiming that the university had ordered students to vacate the institution following the commencement of lecturers’ industrial action.
In a statement posted on its official X platform on Friday, October 2, UoN flagged the memo as FAKE.
It added that notice was false and misleading, and urged students to disregard it.
“Kindly take note that this memo circulating on different platforms is fake!” the university said.
UoN Denies Notice Announcing Temporary University Closure
In a separate statement, the Vice-Chancellor’s Office also alerted students and parents to the fake notice, stressing that the information circulating on social media was not genuine.
“The University of Nairobi alerts students & parents to a fake notice circulating on social media about the temporary closure of the University. The information is false and misleading,” the Vice-Chancellor’s Office said.
The Vice-Chancellor’s Office urged students to get updates only from the University of Nairobi’s official communication channels to avoid receiving fake and unverified information.
The FAKE memo, dated September 30, 2026, is addressed to all students and purports to be from the Office of the Academic Registrar.
It bears the reference number UON/AR/EXAMS/01/VOL.1/149 and is headed “Temporary Closure of the University.”
The notice claims that the university would suspend academic activities from Friday, October 2, following the start of the lecturers’ industrial action.
What the Fake Memo Claimed
It further claims that all students must vacate the university by Friday, October 2, and make arrangements to return home.
“Accordingly, all students are required to vacate the University by Friday, 2nd October, 2026, and make the necessary arrangements to return home,” the fake memo reads.
The notice also advised students to secure their personal belongings and comply with what it described as university directives.
“Students are advised to secure their personal belongings and comply with all University directives,” the memo stated.
It further claimed that the university would issue updates on the resumption of academic activities through its official communication channels.
The memo then instructed students to take note of the purported directive and make the necessary arrangements.
“Further communication regarding the resumption of academic activities will be issued through the official University communication channels,” the notice stated.
The notice purported to be issued by the Academic Registrar and copied to the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs), University Examination Section, and all deans and chairpersons of departments.
UoN has, however, disowned the memo and advised students and parents not to act on information circulating outside its official communication channels.
University Strike Begins After Talks Collapse
The university’s clarification comes as teaching and learning activities in public universities across the country are set to be disrupted following the commencement of a nationwide strike by the Universities’ Academic Staff Union (UASU), Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) and Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions and Hospitals Allied (KUDHEIHA) workers.
The unions declared the strike after talks with the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) broke down on Thursday.
The unions rejected a proposed annual salary increment of 4 per cent, describing it as inadequate, and called for the immediate implementation of the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Meanwhile, the Kenya Union of Technical and Vocational Education Trainers (KUTVET) has suspended its strike for 14 days pending further negotiations with the Ministry of Education.
The union said the strike followed the failure by university councils, the Ministry of Education and the Treasury to honour the Return-to-Work Formula signed on November 5, 2025.
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