From left: Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) National Chairperson Dr Grace Nyongesa, Secretary-General Dr Constantine Wasonga and National Trustee Jane Michael raise their fists in solidarity during a press briefing at the union headquarters in Nairobi on September 24, 2026.

📋 Breaking It Down

A notice by lecturers in public universities that they will down tools on Friday next week if the government does not commit to fund a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with them is the latest of troubles afflicting the sub-sector.

The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) submitted a demand proposal for the 2025 – 2029 CBA on February 3 2025 through the chair of the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) but negotiations are yet to begin. The proposal was to form the basis for negotiations but the union has not received a counter-offer of their demands.

If the lecturers make good their threat to down tools, it will only add to a litany of problems afflicting public universities. The institutions collectively have a pending bill of Sh100 billion owed to various creditors and statutory agencies. The debt has ballooned from about Sh61 billion when the Kenya Kwanza government assumed power in 2022.

📌 What You Need to Know

Students in the universities are also struggling with inadequate funding for their upkeep through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and support for their tuition through the Universities Fund. A funding model introduced in 2023 and hailed as the panacea for the funding crisis in universities has failed to pull the institutions out of the doldrums and the government has proposed, yet, another model that is before the National Assembly for consideration and adoption.

The Principal Secretary for Higher Education Dr Beatrice Inyangala told Nation yesterday that the government was in talks with UASU and relevant government authorities to avert a strike that would disrupt learning across all 39 public universities and seven constituent colleges.

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“Yes, we are aware about the seven-day strike notice. We have been talking to UASU and we shall continue talking. And not just UASU, but also KUSU (Kenya Universities Staff Union) and KUDHEIHA (Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions and Hospitals Workers). The last time we had a meeting with UASU, it was really cordial and they gave us thirty days to resolve the issues. So this seven-day [notice] is somewhat a surprise. We have not refused to make a commitment to fund the CBA. It is the Treasury that actually commits the resources, as all the money we get comes from Treasury,” she said.

Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Dr Constantine Wasonga speaks during a press briefing at the union headquarters in Nairobi on September 24, 2026.

However, UASU accuses the government of failing to commit to fund a new CBA. The two parties had a meeting on September 17 2026 but no deal has been struck yet.

📰 Source: Nation Africa