Ruto questions why lecturers are striking as 2025-2029 CBA talks stall

The lecturers' strike began on October 2, 2026, amid a breakdown in negotiations over the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between university unions and the government. The arrears at the centre of the dispute date back to earlier agreements covering the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 periods, the first negotiated during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration and the second extending into Ruto's presidency.

During the 2026 World Teachers' Day celebrations, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced that the government had cleared arrears owed under the two previous agreements. The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and other university staff unions have, however, continued industrial action, pressing for an acceptable agreement under the new CBA, with funding arrangements emerging as a key point of contention.

The unions have raised concerns over the government's responsibility for financing negotiated remuneration and the implications of leaving universities to depend on their own revenue collections. A new CBA requires both parties to agree on applicable terms, financial commitments and implementation arrangements, matters that remain unresolved even as the government insists historical arrears have been settled.

Ruto's remarks place pressure on the unions to clarify why industrial action is continuing if the arrears have indeed been cleared, while the government faces calls to demonstrate that negotiations over the 2025-2029 CBA are being pursued in good faith. Meanwhile, students remain affected by disrupted lectures, delayed examinations and uncertainty over academic calendars as both sides work to resolve the outstanding issues and end the strike.