Moi University, which had been closed indefinitely since October 3, 2024, is now set to reopen its doors to students following a month-long strike by more than 4,000 workers over delayed salaries and issues surrounding the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The university has now released a comprehensive schedule of meetings and negotiations aimed at ensuring a smooth transition back to normal operations.
According to the notice from Vice-Chancellor Prof. Isaac S. Kosgey, consultative meetings with the university’s staff unions, the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU), began on Saturday, November 2, 2024, and will continue through Wednesday, November 6, 2024.
The meetings will culminate in the official reopening of the university on Thursday, November 7, 2024.
This series of engagements will involve high-level discussions between university management, union officials, and the university’s governing bodies.
The schedule outlines that on Saturday, November 2, and Monday, November 4, consultative meetings with UASU and KUSU took place.
On Tuesday, November 5, negotiation meetings with the unions will continue, with a final negotiation meeting and signing of the Return to Work Formula (RTWF) scheduled for Wednesday, November 6.
The re-opening of the University is scheduled for Thursday, November 7, followed by the students’ return on Friday, November 8.
The prolonged industrial action and resulting unrest among students led to the suspension of all academic activities at the institution, with students being instructed to vacate university premises.
The closure, which came after rising tensions due to the unpaid salaries and the institution’s struggle to honour the CBA, escalated into violent protests last month.
Students marched in the streets of the varsity, a move that left some hospitalized after a clash with riot police.
Union leaders and students had pleaded for intervention from President William Ruto to rescue the university from what they described as a crisis threatening its very survival.
In recent weeks, UASU and KUSU leaders had called off the strike, but many of the university’s workers remained resolute, insisting on their demands being met before they returned to work.
Their determination was evident when hundreds of workers marched to the Uasin Gishu County Assembly to present their grievances, vowing to continue their strike until a sustainable solution was found.
