“Bills Don’t Wait”Striking Lecturers Enter 7th Week, Reject Gov’t Phased KSh 7.9B Offer
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The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has rejected the government’s proposal to pay lecturers their KSh 7.9 billion salary arrears in phases, insisting that the entire amount must be settled immediately and in full.
Why are lecturers rejecting the phased payment offer?
Speaking during a press briefing on Friday, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga announced that lecturers would not resume work until their demands were fully met. He accused the government of repeatedly breaching agreements in past negotiations and vowed that the union would not compromise this time.
“The government has been signing documents and renege, so lecturers are ready to go the long haul, and once we’re done, they are ready to resume duty,” Wesonga said. “The lecturers don’t want a strike till 2030, this one tunamalizana this year.”
The government had proposed paying the KSh 7.9 billion arrears in two phases on the condition that lecturers return to work. However, UASU’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Delegates Council (NDC) met and agreed on three binding resolutions that must be honored before ending the strike.
First, the union insists on the full and immediate payment of the KSh 7.9 billion arrears. Second, they demand that the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) be negotiated, signed, registered, and implemented in full. Third, the ongoing strike in all public universities and colleges will continue until these demands are met.
“The payment of KSh 7.9 billion be done at once and immediately. Lecturers, through their organs, have instructed me that they don’t designate knowledge in phases; therefore, the arrears, no one should contemplate or imagine that it can be paid in phases. Bills don’t wait to be settled in phases,” Wesonga stated.
What happens next as the lecturers’ strike continues?
The lecturers’ industrial action has now stretched into its 46th day, and the latest rejection signals a deeper standoff between the union and the government. Education CS Migos Ogamba recently admitted that the issue lies in the amount to be paid rather than the government’s willingness to pay.
“Our learners are suffering out there just because the government has not refused to pay, but just the amount of money to be paid,” Ogamba said in Nyamira County on October 24, 2025.
With both sides holding firm, universities across the country remain paralyzed, leaving thousands of students in limbo as the government scrambles to find a solution that could bring the lecturers back to work.
By Modester Nasimiyu
