State offers lecturers Sh20b pay deal, unions set to call off strike

UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga and his KUSU counterpart Charles Mukhana address a press briefing in Nairobi on October 26, 2026. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

The month-long lecturers’ strike could end as early as Friday after the Government offered a new Sh20 billion pay deal, raising hopes of a return to normal learning in public universities.

Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the union would meet government officials to formalise the agreement before calling off the strike, which has disrupted learning for more than 600,000 students.

“We have a deal on financials. Tomorrow our technical committee is going to meet to put what we agreed on paper,” Wasonga said.

He said the union expected to call off the strike on Friday, paving the way for lecturers to resume teaching.

“I want to assure you that starting Monday you shall have your classes,” he said.

The proposed deal marks a breakthrough in negotiations over the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), after lecturers rejected an earlier Sh12 billion offer that would have translated into a three per cent salary increase on their basic pay.

The negotiations were spearheaded by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo.

The payments are expected to be made in phases, although the details of the implementation are yet to be formalised.

The anticipated return to class offers relief to students whose academic programmes have been interrupted, with universities now facing the task of determining how to recover lost teaching time and complete outstanding academic activities.

Before the latest breakthrough, university staff had warned that a prolonged strike could force institutions to revise their academic calendars, extend semesters and postpone examinations, with possible knock-on effects on subsequent academic sessions.

The disruption had also raised concerns over delayed graduation clearance, with students awaiting the resolution of missing marks, completion of examinations and other academic requirements facing uncertainty over when they would graduate.

However, the extent of the disruption will depend on how quickly universities resume teaching and how institutions adjust their academic schedules to accommodate the lost time.

The strike involved nearly 10,000 lecturers and followed the failure to conclude the 2025–2029 CBA, despite a return-to-work formula signed between UASU and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum on November 5, 2025.

Under that agreement, the parties had committed to concluding the CBA before the end of 2025.

UASU is seeking an average annual salary increment of six per cent over the four-year agreement running from July 2025 to June 2029.

Under the union’s proposed salary structure, the highest salary notch for professors would rise from Sh345,816 to more than Sh580,144 a month by the 2028/2029 financial year. Senior lecturers would earn up to Sh399,644, up from the current Sh238,221.

The union is also seeking higher housing allowances, proposing Sh116,028 a month for professors, up from Sh73,715; Sh104,426 for associate professors, up from Sh66,344; Sh92,822 for senior lecturers, up from Sh58,972; and Sh87,020 for lecturers, up from Sh55,286.

It wants commuter allowances standardised at Sh60,000 a month for all academic grades, except part-time lecturers, for whom it proposes Sh20,000.

UASU is further seeking a standard monthly risk allowance of Sh30,000 for lecturers exposed to occupational hazards, up from current rates ranging between Sh5,000 and Sh15,000 for staff working in laboratories and workshops.

The proposal also includes annual research grants of up to Sh5 million for professors and associate professors, and Sh4 million for senior lecturers and lecturers. Academic staff who attract external research grants would receive a 20 per cent honorarium under the union’s demands.

For part-time teaching, UASU is proposing an increase in the hourly rate for postgraduate certificate courses from Sh2,500 to Sh3,000, while lecturers teaching postgraduate and master’s courses would earn Sh4,680 an hour, up from Sh3,000.

The latest industrial action came less than a year after public universities endured a 49-day strike that began on September 17, 2025, and ended on November 5 following the signing of a return-to-work formula involving UASU, the Kenya Universities Staff Union and the Government.