Lecturers made good their threat after their respective unions_the Universities Academic Staff Union [UASU] and the Kenya Universities Staff Union [KUSU] called for a nationwide strike over unmet demands by the government
Dons from various public universities took to the streets as the strike officially kicked off. This is barely a week after students protesting against the new higher education funding model called off their strike after intervention from the government.
Lecturers participating in the strike include those from remote areas which have never participated in a such nationwide standoff; South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU), Multimedia University, Maasai Mara University, Chuka University, The Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Karatina University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT), , and Cooperative University.
In an historic move Lectureres at South Eastern Kenya University in Kitui County joined their counterparts singing chorals and swinging to align themselves in the strike which has been called by the Uiniversities Academic Staff Union and the Kenya Universities Staff Union
Other 34 Univeristies have already boycotted classes, SEKU being the 35th public universities who have downed their tools, escalating stalemate between the unions and the government. The strike has left students stranded and the lecturers stopped, affecting thousands of learners as the situation remains unresolved.
Leaders at SEKU, expressed their frustrations over the delayed negotiations of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreemenet with the government. They decried what they termed as the government’s reluctance to address key issues affecting them
While launching the strike at the univerisyt grounds, Uasu and Kusu leaders cited concerns about low pay, delayed salaries, and the non- remittances of statutory deductions such as pensions and health insurance schemes
In furtherance to their grievances with the government, SEKU staff raised specific issues with the university’s management. These included what they described as a discriminatory medical cover, the lack of automatic annual salary increments and failure to pay arrears
The unions have remained adamant that they will not resume classes until their concerns are met, leaving the university administration and government in a race against time to resolve the staddoff and restore nolmalcy in the institution
SEKU, sitting at 40 kilometers from Kitui Town, staffs and workers have compounded the challenge, hence calling for the review of commuter allowances to better reflect the costs of travvelling to and from the remote
The net effect of the strike by the lecturers was students writing their exams at some universities being forced to stop as lecturers invigilating the exams joined their striking colleagues
At Karatina University, lectures on strike stormed different faculties at the university demanding that their colleagues proceeding with teaching stop and participate in the strike.