Cs Ogamba Confirms October 6 Court Date as University Lecturers’ Strike Persists
The standoff between the government and striking public university lecturers will head back to court as talks to resolve the two-week impasse fail.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba told senators on Wednesday that the government will seek the court’s guidance on October 6 after the strike paralysed learning in all public universities.
Ogamba appeared before the Senate plenary and said the government had fulfilled its obligations under the 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). However, he admitted that the dispute is over the arrears owed under the 2017–2021 CBA.
“The lecturers are on strike because of three different issues from three different CBAs,” Ogamba said. “The question is what the union is demanding and what the government thinks is owed.”
According to the CS, the courts had issued an injunction stopping the strike and directed both parties to talk and verify the figures in dispute. He accused the lecturers of disobeying the court order and therefore the matter is back to the courts.
Meanwhile, the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) is sticking to its guns, saying they will not go back to class until the government clears the Ksh7.9 billion outstanding balance from the 2017–2021 CBA.
At a joint press conference in Nairobi, UASU National Chairperson Grace Nyongesa dismissed claims that talks were ongoing.
“We will not go back to class until the issues we have raised are addressed. There are no talks happening,” Nyongesa said.
The union also wants the government to fully implement the 2021–2025 CBA before the negotiation of the next agreement covering 2025–2029 begins.
With learning stalled in all public universities and both sides digging in, the courts will be the next stop next week as the legal battle becomes the latest chapter in the long running dispute.
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Cs Ogamba Confirms October 6 Court Date as University Lecturers’ Strike Persists