'Comrades pawa': UoN students take to streets in solidarity with striking lecturers

University of Nairobi students association (UNSA) members speak at a press briefing on the university lecturers strike. [Wilberforce Okwiri,STANDARD]

University of Nairobi students on Wednesday took to the streets in solidarity with striking lecturers, fulfilling their threat to stage demonstrations if the Government failed to resolve the pay dispute within 72 hours.

The students marched along Uhuru Highway, demanding the payment of lecturers and an end to the strike, which has paralysed learning in public universities for nearly three weeks now.

While addressing the media,  the University of Nairobi Students Association (UNSA) president Ahmed Rashid gave the Government and the Ministry of Education until Wednesday evening to resolve the dispute, warning that students would return to the streets on Thursday if their demands were not met.

“We are giving the Ministry five hours to pay our lecturers. Failure to do so, we will go to the ministry and chase everyone, starting with the Cabinet Secretary,” Rashid said.

The students said the prolonged strike was disrupting the academic calendar and threatened to derail the December graduation ceremony, leaving students uncertain about when they would complete their studies.

Rashid, who said he had been admitted to the university in 2017, warned that continued disruption of learning could push graduation dates further into the following year.

“If the one in December has been affected by the strike, of course the one in September will be affected,” he said, referring to the university's graduation schedules.

He said students had spent years in university and wanted to complete their studies, but repeated disruptions were delaying their plans.

The students also accused the Ministry of Education of failing to resolve the dispute despite the strike entering its third week, saying they could not continue watching their education suffer while lecturers remained unpaid.

''The ministry has failed us and so far so good they did nothing and we're saying the lecturers must be paid,'' Rashid said.

Elvis NK, a student leader at University of Nairobi, said students had repeatedly experienced disruptions linked to lecturers' pay disputes, adding that the recurring strikes had left students frustrated, with some facing financial difficulties and pressure from their families as their studies stalled.

“Most of us, as I have said, we have been in school for so many years and we want to graduate,” he said, adding that the students would not allow public university education to collapse.

He urged students from other universities to support the lecturers, arguing that the dispute affected the entire higher education sector and not lecturers alone.

''I want to send a message to all the university students in Kenya that we need to support our lecturers. we will not allow and we shall not allow the university education to collapse.'' Elvis said.

University of Nairobi students association (UNSA) members speak at a press briefing on the university lecturers strike. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

The students also called on the Government to intervene, accusing the Ministry of Education of failing to address the grievances that had kept lecturers away from classrooms.

The demonstrations came as the lecturers' unions maintained their strike, saying they had not received any formal communication from the Government since presenting petitions to Parliament, the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education on October 15.

Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the unions had not received a response from any of the three offices and had not been contacted to resume negotiations.

“We haven't received any communication from Parliament, the Ministry of Education, and even the National Treasury. Hopefully we will get it,” Wasonga said.

He said the talks facilitated by the inter-ministerial committee had collapsed after the Government presented a consolidated figure for implementing the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), rather than negotiating the unions' demands clause by clause.

Wasonga maintained that the unions wanted each item in their proposal discussed and agreed upon before the technical team could calculate the cost of the resulting agreement, adding that the government has not made any efforts to call them back for negotiations.

“Our position is clear: we shall not negotiate at a global figure and so far they have not reached out,'' he said.

He argued that presenting a single figure before negotiating individual demands undermined the process, insisting that the Government should engage the unions on the specific issues contained in their proposal.

The dispute centres on the implementation of the 2025–2029 CBA, with the unions insisting that the Government must address their demands through substantive negotiations.

The latest demonstrations signal growing frustration among students, who are increasingly concerned that the deadlock between the Government and lecturers could extend the disruption beyond missed classes to examinations, completion of studies and graduation.

Rashid said the students wanted to return to class and would stage further demonstrations if the Government failed to act by the deadline they had issued, but with no fresh negotiations announced and the unions maintaining their position, the prospect of an immediate return to normal learning remained uncertain as students threatened to intensify their protests on Thursday.