UASU calls off university lecturers’ strike after signing Sh20bn deal with government

NAIROBI,Kenya Oct 31 – The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has called off its nationwide strike after reaching a Sh20 billion agreement with the government to implement the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).

The strike, which began on October 2, paralysed teaching, learning and research in public universities for nearly a month, with lecturers expected to resume their duties on Monday, November 2.

UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga announced the end of the industrial action on Friday following negotiations with the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) under the auspices of an Inter-Ministerial Committee.

Under the agreement, the government will release the Sh20 billion in three instalments spread across three financial years.

The first tranche of Sh6.7 billion will be released in the 2026/2027 financial year, followed by another Sh6.7 billion in 2027/2028, while the remaining Sh6.6 billion will be disbursed in 2028/2029.

Lecturers will also receive an annual basic salary increment of 3.5 per cent for four years, backdated to July 1, 2025.

The agreement further provides for an automatic annual salary increment of five per cent, alongside harmonisation and increases in commuter, leave, and passage and baggage allowances for the majority of academic staff in public universities.

On outstanding payments, the parties agreed that salary and allowance arrears accumulated between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026 will be paid in three instalments.

Arrears covering the period between July 1 and December 31, 2026 will, however, be paid together with January 2027 salaries.

The deal also addresses concerns over possible victimisation of lecturers who participated in the strike, with all disciplinary proceedings initiated against employees during the industrial action set to be withdrawn.

For academic staff serving on contract, participation in the strike will not be used as grounds to deny them contract renewals.

Wasonga said the agreement had not been easy to reach, describing it as a compromise in which the union had to balance the disruption to students’ education against lecturers’ demands for better working conditions and protection of their rights.

“Today’s agreement is a compromise, and reaching it was not easy. In making concessions, UASU carefully balanced the plight of students with the fundamental rights of academic staff to dignified working conditions, collective bargaining and pension security,” he said.

He thanked the government, particularly the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury, for providing the funding required to implement the CBAs.

The union also assured its members that the signed Return to Work Formula (RTWF) would protect them from victimisation, including union officials and lecturers employed on contractual terms.

UASU further thanked students for their patience during the disruption and urged them to return to their studies immediately.

“We have now achieved the objectives of our strike. THE STRIKE IS OVER,” Wasonga declared.

The lecturers’ strike had disrupted academic programmes across public universities, raising concerns over delayed examinations, interrupted teaching schedules and the potential extension of academic calendars.

The signing of the return-to-work agreement now paves the way for the resumption of normal university operations, although institutions will have to address the academic time lost during the industrial action.