LECTURES DEMAND KSH 7.9B PAYMENT

University lecturers have vowed to continue their strike until the government remits them Ksh.7.9 billion owed to them in the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), dismissing what they term as stalled negotiations and "public relations stunts" by the State.

During a Wednesday demonstration outside the University of Nairobi, University Academic Staff Union (UASU) and Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) officials reiterated the demand for the full implementation of the court-ordered payment and unconditionally negotiated 2025–2029 CBA.

UASU National Chairperson Grace Nyongesa said that lecturers will only return to work once the protracted impasse is dealt with.
"Today we are walking towards victory on the cause we are fighting. For the 2017–2021 CBA, we demand what we want is for the whole Ksh.7.9 billion to be carried to implementation, and we will negotiate for that CBA as a whole," she continued.
"Already four years down the line, its value has depreciated."

Nyongesa further stated lecturers were "heartily appalled" by the government's failure to listen to them, with officials alleged to be disregarding the teaching profession.

We are taxed too much, but the system is not functioning — pension funds are collapsing, and we desire respect in our work. We will not return to the workplace until even the new 2025–2029 CBA has been negotiated and settled," she added.

UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wesonga also confirmed that unions were invited to a payroll audit meeting in Machakos on Thursday for the arrears of the 2017–2021 CBA.

But he dismissed the meeting as unnecessary, maintaining the union already has figures that have been confirmed.

"The court ruled that the 2017–2021 CBA stands at Ksh.7.8 billion, and we will not allow the government undo that judgment through the back door," Dr Wesonga declared.
"Tomorrow's destiny already lies with us. We will lay our audit on the table, have tea, and return, for this strike shall cease once Ksh.7.1 billion finds its way into our coffers."

He also labelled the government offer of Ksh.3 billion for the new 2025–2029 CBA as "a joke of the highest order."
The lecturers' strike, which is now in its fourth week, has grounded learning in public universities across the country, with the unions vowing that they will not resume work unless their terms are addressed in full.

Lecturers want the State to settle Ksh.7.9 billion in arrears for the 2017-2021 CBA and start fresh negotiations for the 2025-2029 CBA.
Today's learning paralysis in state universities is a repeat of the same paralysis that took place last year when the semester spilled to the first quarter of this year.
A section of students, therefore, has threatened to also go on strike if the government does not break the dons' strike.