The University Academic Staff Union (UASU) has threatened to go on strike again on January 15 due to salary arrears.
The lecturers gave the ultimatum to the government after not receiving their salary payments for December and pending arrears dating back to September 2024.
Barely less than 40 days after the lecturers signed a back-to-work formula where the Ministry of Education agreed to implement the salary increment outlined in the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) they were shocked when they received their December paychecks without the increment.
According to UASU Organising Secretary, Onesmus Maluki, the government agreed to a pay rise for lecturers that would be backdated from October.
The government, through the Higher Education Principal Secretary, Beatrice Inyangala, issued a circular to university dons and directed the institutions to honour the pay increase.
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“We agreed that the new salaries for university lecturers would be implemented in December and that we would also receive arrears for October and November, he said.
The University heads insist they are yet to receive funds to effect the pay increase, blaming the delay on lack of funds from the government.
The CBA is to be implemented in three phases, with the first tranche of KSh4.3 billion covering nine months up to June 2025. The remaining KSh5.4 billion will be disbursed in two equal installments of KSh2.7 billion each.
As part of the agreement, the highest salary for lecturers, specifically for research professors, will increase from KSh283,087 in 2021-2022 to KSh345,816 in 2024-2025. The lowest salary is expected to rise from KSh57,729 to KSh63,647 over the same period.
Union leaders have also called for the resignation of Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, accusing him of failing to ensure compliance with the CBA. UASU has vowed that the upcoming strike will be more intense, with heightened pressure on the government to resolve the issue.
The strike will disrupt all 35 public universities and two constituent colleges if the government does not heed to the lecturers’ demands.
By Felix Wanderi
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