This year witnessed on and off lecturers’ strikes
fueled by feelings of betrayal following the government’s failure to honour its end
of the bargain on signed agreements.
The nationwide strike started on September 18 and
paralysed learning across all 30 public universities as lecturers and other
non-teaching staff numbering over 30,000 pushed for implementation of phase II
of their 2021- 2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
At the center of contention was a pay hike of between
seven and 10 per cent, comprehensive medical cover, staff promotions and release
of deducted dues for saccos and banks for loans taken.
The new salary scale would accord the lowest-paid lecturer a basic monthly salary of Sh99,650 and Sh338,146 for the highest-paid professor.
Another demand was the harmonisation of the retirement
age to 75 years, with an option of voluntary retirement age of 50 years.
The CBA was signed on September 4, 2020, but the
University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) and Kenya University Staff Union
(Kusu) accused the government, represented by the Inter-Public Universities
Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), of taking them in circles.
“So from September 4, 2020, if you are still asking
for more time in 2024, think twice. Other public service employees were given
seven to 10 per cent (salary increment). We are also government employees. We
want the seven to 10 per cent that other public sector employees were given,” UASU National Secretary General Dr Constantine Wasonga said when issuing a seven-day strike notice on September 11.
The strike notice came after talks with the government
– through the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) – collapsed 10 times
as lecturers rejected a 4.5 per cent pay rise offer.
Other demands tabled by the dons was a review of their
house allowances from Sh20,000 to Sh40,000 for junior lecturers, and from
Sh73,715 to Sh116,028 for senior lecturers.
“There will be no teaching or any activity from the
expiry of the strike notice. University employees are suffering. We can’t be
patriotic anymore,” Wasonga said, accusing the government of unfair treatment
and discrimination.
The lecturers were particularly frustrated that other
unions, including the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET),
and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), as well as civil servants,
were given pay increments of up to 8 per cent.
The lecturers defied a court order suspending their strike after IPUCCF filed an application seeking interim orders for parties to resume talks.
After days of standoff, Uasu called off the strike
after inking a return-to-work formula on September 26.
Wasonga, however, warned that the strike would resume
and subsist for an extended period if the government failed yet again to honour
its end of the bargain.
True to his word, Wasonga announced the resumption of
the nationwide strike on October 29, shutting down not only learning, but
disrupting end-year examinations.
“We will not teach, mark, or supervise exams until the
government honours the agreement,” Wasonga said while announcing the start of
the fresh strike at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) flanked by
academic staff.
TUK academic staff started picketing immediately,
chanting slogans while waving placards and blocked entrances to classrooms as
they vowed not to return until their demands were met.
Wasonga declared that "It’s going to be a long
haul but we must be firm to ensure that we get what we want."
“Dons are the most learned people in any society. If
you can’t pay them well, then who is this person you are paying well?” Wasonga
posed.
Uasu national chairperson, Grace Nyongesa, reaffirmed the stance, stating, “All we want is the return-to-work formula to be honoured. It’s simple mathematics.”
The union sustained the nationwide strike despite the
government releasing Sh4.3 billion to fund a portion of lecturers’ demands.
Wasonga said they would only call off the strike after
the government commits to pay Sh5.4 billion balance required to fully implement
the return-to-work-formula totaling Sh9.7 billion.
"The strike is on until we get the Sh9.7
billion. We have taken the Sh4.3 billion and the government must tell us
how we are getting the Sh5.4 billion and it will not be done
verbally," Wesonga said.
Wesonga was speaking during a meeting with the National Assembly Education Committee that was midwifing a truce between the unions and the government.
Amid the persisting deadlock, students became an
increasingly frustrated lot as some lawmakers called on both parties to resolve
the impasse expeditiously.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah said the students were the
hardest hit as the strike had not only disrupted learning but was now taking a
toll on them mentally and emotionally.
Many are confined to campuses with no access to classes,
food, or essential support, leaving them vulnerable and frustrated,"
Omtatah said.
He called on the striking lecturers and the government
to prioritise the needs of the students and the future of the nation.
On November 24, after 26 days of strike, the parties
heed the advice.
Wasonga announced that Uasu had penned another
return-to-work formula with IPUCCF worth Sh9.7 billion after the government
agreed to release the Sh5.4 billion balance.
In the agreement, Wasonga said the National
Treasury committed to allocate Sh4.3 billion to cater for implementation of the
CBA in the 2024-25 financial year under Supplementary Estimates II.
The remaining Sh5.4 billion will be disbursed in two
installments of Sh2.7 billion each in the 2026-27 financial year.
IPUCCF also agreed to withdraw petition it filed to
stop the lecturers' strike.
"I want to impress upon lecturers that they
should prepare to resume classes on Monday," Wasonga said.
"You should prepare to arrange with the
university management and Senate to cover the time lost so that the students
can get quality education," he told the lecturers after the signing of the
deal.
A whole new
ball game at Moi University
At Moi University, it was a totally new ball game,
one that the happenings in Nairobi did not seem to bother them.
Over 4,000 lecturers and non-teaching staff remained on strike despite UASU and KUSU calling off the boycott on September 26.
On October 2, UASU branch deputy secretary Nyabuta
Ojuki, said none of their demands had been met despite the unions calling off
the strike.
He claimed the pension scheme had collapsed due to the
non-remittance of more than Sh5.5 billion deducted from their salaries and over
Sh1.2 billion deducted for bank loans for some of the employees had not
been remitted as well.
The following day, on October 3, the university was shut after a series of student unrest catalysed by growing uncertainty and worry prompted police intervention.
Vice Chancellor Professor Isaac Kosgey said the
university senate had resolved to suspend all learning and teaching activities
of the 1st semester for 2024/25 as a consequence of the industrial action and
student unrest.
“All students at all campuses should thus vacate the university premises with immediate effect,” the VC said in a notice.
On October 9, MPs ordered a forensic audit at the
troubled Moi University citing mismanagement and misappropriation they said
dates back to five years.
“During the period, this committee freezes new
projects; there will be no recruitment of new persons,” National Assembly’s
Public Investment Committee on Governance and Education said in its directive
to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
They wanted the auditor to table the report in 60
days.
On November 4, Prof Kosgey announced that the university
would reopen on November 7, followed by the students’ return on Friday,
November 8.
He said the decision followed consultative meetings
with the university’s staff unions.
Lecturers, however, remained on strike.
On November 20, Kosgey was questioned at the EACC
offices in Eldoret for more than 10 hours over the management of the
institution.
Detectives wanted the VC to shed light on 11 projects
valued at Sh2.2 billion being investigated at the EACC.
Meanwhile, the prolonged lecturers’ strike at Moi University
that lasted three months was eventually called off on November 30.
It followed talks between Education CS Julius Ogamba and
union officials at the university where he witnessed the signing of a return to
work formula between the university and the unions at the main campus.
Higher Education PS, Beatrice Inyangala, was also present
at the university to witness the signing of the deal by Uasu, Kusu) and Kenya
Union of Domestic Hotels and Education Institutions and Allied Workers Union
(KUDHEIHA).
Wasonga said Kusu National Secretary, James Mogaka, said they negotiated and agreed that the demands by the workers would be met halfway.
Wasonga said the government, through CS, had given a
roadmap on how it would raise more than the Sh8.6 billion demanded by the
workers.
“To the workers, let's go back to work on Monday, and
although we did not get all that we wanted, at least we got something. Even the
tail is meat," Wasonga said.
CS Ogamba said the government would take immediate
remedial action to resolve the challenges at Moi University and rescue it from
its deathbed.
“We will also closely monitor all the public
universities so that we do not get to situations like the one we have at Moi
University currently. The students and workers have suffered because of wrong
decisions they did not participate in making," Ogamba said.
During his State of the Nation Address on November 21,
President William Ruto said he had pulled most universities from the brink of
collapse by ensuring sufficient resource availability but “the remaining
challenges for a few universities like Moi University are related to internal
administrative and governance issues which I have given firm instructions that
they should be addressed.”
As 2025 draws closer, it remains to be seen whether the government will hold its end of the bargain and ensure university education is not disrupted again in the New Year.
