Public university students have threatened to strike and join lecturers in the streets if the government fails to pay dons their long-delayed salaries and allowances.
The warning came during a meeting between more than 140 student leaders from public universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
The student leaders expressed their frustrations over the sorry state of higher education in the country, accusing the government of neglecting education and warned that they would not hesitate to take to the streets in solidarity with their lecturers.
“We shall join our lectures in the streets if the government does not pay them their dues. That is their hard-earned money that they are right-fully demanding, “said the president of Chuka University students association, Ashley Rono.
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Rono declared that students would paralyse campus activities if the standoff persisted.
The lecturers, under the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), downed tools earlier this month citing unpaid salary arrears, delayed allowances, and the government’s failure to honour Collective Bargaining Agreements, (CBA) that was meant to improve pay and working conditions.
UASU has also raised concerns about the sustainability of the new university funding model, which it says has left many institutions struggling to pay staff, run operations, or pay debts.
The strike, now in its third week, has left public universities in paralysis, with lectures suspended.
By Juma Ndigo
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