Public universities lecturers issue a 7-day strike notice

Public universities across Kenya are bracing for major disruptions after the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) issued a nationwide seven-day strike notice, setting midnight on Friday, September 30, 2026, as the official start date for lecturers to down their tools.

Speaking on Thursday, September 24, UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga cited the government’s continuous failure to implement the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as the primary catalyst for the strike.

According to the union, university councils, the Ministry of Education, and the National Treasury have failed to honor the Return-to-Work Formula that was signed on November 5, 2025.

The union highlighted that despite ongoing negotiations since last year primarily held at Machakos University the government has repeatedly failed to submit a official financial counter-proposal for the 2025–2029 period.

This stagnation persists even as other public sector workers have successfully negotiated and finalized their respective collective bargaining agreements for the same timeframe.

"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," UASU said in a statement.  

The decision to issue the strike notice comes on the heels of a critical meeting on Monday, September 21, between union leadership and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

During this session, the SRC informed university unions that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had provided written guarantees or financial commitments confirming that funding for public universities' CBAs would be allocated through the National Exchequer.

"SRC said that it could not therefore issue the constitutional advice required to facilitate financial counter-proposals to the Unions," UASU stated.

Without explicit financial backing from the Treasury, the SRC stated it could not issue the required constitutional advice to enable university management to make a counter-offer to the unions.

UASU emphasized that this admission raises serious doubts about the legitimacy and sincerity of the year-long negotiations.

This strike notice marks the culmination of months of warning signs from academic staff. Just over a month ago, on August 14, UASU cautioned the government of imminent industrial action if the pending 2025–2029 CBA was not resolved.

The union noted at the time that while the agreement was slated for signature in November 2025, it has remained stuck in bureaucratic limbo ever since.

With the September 30 deadline fast approaching, learning across all public universities nationwide risks coming to a complete halt unless the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury intervene immediately with concrete financial commitments.