Lectures strike called off

Nairobi, 

Saturday, 23 November, 2024 

McCreadie Andias 

University lecturers, under the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), have officially agreed to return to work following the signing of a return-to-work formula with the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) on Saturday.

In the deal ,the government has commitment to fully implement the 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is valued at Ksh.9.7 billion.

The implementation will occur in three tranches, with the first tranche of Ksh.4.3 billion covering nine months up to June 2025. The remaining Ksh.5.4 billion will be disbursed in two instalments of Ksh 2.7 billion each.

As part of the agreement, all legal cases arising from the recent lecturers' strike will be withdrawn.

The strike had stalled learning across all 35 public universities and constituent colleges for atleast 4 weeks.

To address the disruption caused by the strike, UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wesonga assured stakeholders of measures to recover lost academic time. "We will extend teaching hours during the daily schedule and over weekends to recover time lost during the industrial strike," he stated.

The resolution comes as some universities including Mmust and Kenyatta university have already announced extension of Semester 1 studies and exams to January 2025 to cover for the time lost.