UASU Lecturers Issue Seven-Day Strike Notice, Set October 1 for Nationwide Strike

Story by Violet Kerubo, Monyonge O’Kebati & Evans Mutinda

The Universities Academic Staff Union, UASU, has issued a seven-day notice for a nationwide strike by lecturers in public universities.
According to a press statement issued on Thursday, September 24, 2026, UASU says the strike will commence at midnight on Thursday, October 1, 2026, if the issues raised by the union are not addressed.
The union says the decision follows what it describes as the persistent failure by university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury to honour the Return-to-Work Formula signed on November 5, 2025.
UASU says another major concern is the government’s failure to provide a financial counter-proposal for the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement, commonly referred to as the CBA.
The union notes that while other employees in the public education sector concluded their 2025–2029 CBAs last year, lecturers in public universities have, in its view, been left without a concluded agreement.
UASU also cites a disclosure made by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC, on September 21, 2026.
According to the union, SRC informed unions in the university sector that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had provided a written commitment that funding for public university CBAs would be provided through the National Exchequer.
UASU says SRC consequently could not issue the constitutional advice required to facilitate financial counter-proposals to the unions.
The union further argues that the disclosure raises questions about the funding arrangements for public university lecturers and the direction of university education financing.
UASU says it is particularly concerned by what it describes as an indication that funding for public university lecturers could be drawn from student fees and market-based funding.
The union rejects this position and maintains that academic staff in public universities are public officers.
UASU argues that lecturers should therefore continue to have their remuneration secured through the National Exchequer.
The union further says attempts to change the status of academic staff should not be made through what it describes as back-door mechanisms.
UASU also questions reliance on social-media statements and a proposed Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026, which it says has not yet been enacted by Parliament.
The union raises questions over whether public universities are being moved towards a market-based funding model and, if so, when such a change was made.
It also questions what would happen if market-based funding failed to generate sufficient returns for public university education or if students were unable to pay university fees.
UASU’s Demands
Against this background, UASU has outlined five key demands.
First, the union wants the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated, signed, registered and implemented.
Second, it is demanding that the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury immediately provide the requisite commitment that the 2025–2029 CBA for public university academic staff will be funded through the National Exchequer.
Third, UASU wants the government to cease what it describes as attempts to remove the public-officer status of public university lecturers.
Fourth, the union wants the Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2026, which is currently before Parliament, to contain an explicit provision safeguarding the remuneration of academic staff from the Exchequer, in accordance with the Constitution.
Fifth, UASU wants to be allowed to participate meaningfully in the development of human-resource instruments for public universities that are currently being developed by the Public Service Commission.
The union says its participation is necessary to ensure that the rights of academic staff are protected.
UASU concludes that the government should not abandon public university lecturers, arguing that a dignified and fairly remunerated academic workforce is important to the quality of public university education, the future of students and Kenya’s socioeconomic development.
The seven-day strike notice was signed by UASU Secretary General Dr. Constantine Wasonga, PhD.
The union has therefore set October 1, 2026, as the date when the nationwide lecturers’ strike is going to begin.