- UASU has confirmed that the National Treasury has disbursed KSh7.94 billion in verified staff arrears to 38 public universities.
- The University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University and JKUAT have accounted for the largest share of the arrears, together making up 38.79 per cent of the total verified amount.
- UASU and KUSU have continued preparing for a teaching boycott set for September 2026 over delays in negotiating the 2025–2029 CBA, even as the arrears disbursement provides some relief.
The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has announced the disbursement of outstanding arrears owed to public university lecturers and staff under the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements. The funds, released by the National Treasury and Ministry of Education, will allow universities to begin processing payments through established implementation committees.
In a statement issued on August 11, UASU National Secretary General Constantine Wasonga said the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education had released the funds to the respective universities.
Wasonga said Joint Local Implementation Committees (JLICs) would oversee the payment of the arrears to university staff in accordance with the CBAs and directives from the National Implementation Committee (NIC).
“This is to inform you that the arrears arising from the 2017-2021 CBA and 2021-2025 CBA have been disbursed by the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education to respective public universities.
In accordance with the provisions of the CBAs, the Joint Local Implementation Committees [JLICs] shall oversee the payment of arrears to staff, in line with the guidance of the National Implementation Committee [NIC],” read part of the statement.
The disbursement follows an audit and verification exercise on the 2017–2021 CBA, which established that university staff were owed KSh7.94 billion in outstanding arrears.
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The verification covered 38 public universities and constituent colleges, putting the total cost of implementing the CBA at KSh16.57 billion. Government funding under the agreement amounted to KSh8.81 billion, consisting of a first tranche of KSh6.61 billion and a second tranche of KSh2.21 billion.
The audit further established that universities were owed KSh7.76 billion by the government, with KSh7.15 billion of staff arrears directly attributed to pending government funding.
Universities also incurred an additional KSh616.2 million after using their own resources to meet CBA obligations beyond the government allocations.
UASU said the latest release of funds would allow public universities to begin processing the outstanding payments through the established implementation structures.
The three universities with the largest outstanding balances; the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) , accounted for 38.79 per cent of the total verified arrears, equivalent to about KSh3.08 billion.
The University of Nairobi recorded the highest outstanding balance at KSh1.41 billion, representing 17.71 per cent of the total verified arrears. Kenyatta University followed with KSh846.98 million, while JKUAT had KSh827.67 million in outstanding staff arrears. Moi University owed staff KSh716.18 million, while Egerton University had an outstanding balance of KSh638.20 million.
Other institutions with significant arrears included Maseno University at KSh387.44 million, the University of Eldoret at KSh383.53 million and the Technical University of Kenya at KSh377.65 million.
Kisii University had KSh299.23 million outstanding, while Maasai Mara University owed staff KSh190.11 million.
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The remaining institutions recorded arrears below KSh190 million, with Bomet University College having the lowest among the listed institutions at KSh4.93 million and Koitalel Samoei University College at KSh4.14 million.
The latest development comes as UASU and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) prepare for a teaching boycott scheduled to begin in September 2026. The union previously declared the boycott in protest over delays in negotiating and implementing the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The disbursement of the outstanding arrears is therefore expected to provide some relief to university staff as negotiations over the new CBA continue.
By Bernard Magada
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