Kenya’s universities are on the brink of collapse—not because students lack ambition, but because incessant strikes have turned higher education into a hostage of endless disputes. What should be institutions of innovation and excellence have become theatres of industrial warfare, where broken promises and neglected obligations continue to suffocate learning.
Every time lecturers and staff go on strike, the same chain of chaos unfolds: lectures stall, examinations are postponed, research is abandoned, and graduation dates are thrown into doubt. Students who are expected to graduate in four years often end up spending five or six years. Parents who sell land, take loans, and make sacrifices to educate their children watch in despair as their investments yield nothing but frustration. Employers, tired of uncertainty, begin to doubt the quality of graduates emerging from such a broken system.
The latest wave of strikes in September 2025 serves as a grim reminder of how deeply the rot has set in. Lecturers across public universities defied a court order and paralysed learning, demanding Sh11.5 billion in arrears. At Kisii University, staff dragged the institution to court for nearly Sh150 million in unpaid dues. At the University of Nairobi and Maseno, lecture halls went silent while students loitered in frustration. The Ministry of Education, under CS Migos Ogamba, responded with threats of disciplinary action, but the lecturers stood their ground, citing years of dishonoured CBAs and incomplete implementation of agreements. Even the release of Sh2.5 billion under the 2021–2025 CBA barely made a dent in the bitterness.
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The tragedy is that students, who have no hand in these disputes, suffer the most. Their academic dreams are suspended in mid-air, while the government and university councils engage in blame games with unions. Year after year, the same script repeats: unions cry foul, government drags its feet, councils mismanage resources, and students pay the heaviest price. On a number of occasions, workers have blamed university councils for mismanaging funds, diverting resources, and failing to prioritise staff welfare—complaints that have only deepened mistrust and fueled industrial action.
Let the truth be told: government bears the greatest blame. It is the State that signs collective bargaining agreements, it is the Treasury that withholds funds, and it is ministries that make empty pledges they never honour. Lecturers are not wrong to demand their dues—what is wrong is holding students hostage in the process. University councils, however, cannot escape blame either. Their mismanagement, questionable financial decisions, and lack of accountability have worsened an already dire situation.
The time for half measures is over. Government must honour its pledges fully and on time, not through piecemeal payments that only fuel further strikes. University councils must prioritise transparency and accountability, rather than investing funds in questionable deals. And unions must explore alternative ways of pressing their demands without destroying the futures of innocent students.
Kenya cannot build a world-class higher education system on a foundation of perpetual strikes. The cycle must be broken. The government should not fail in its duty to uphold the nation’s education standards.
By Hillary Muhalya
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