Just a day after frantic talks by university dons and relevant stakeholders to avert a looming strike collapsed, lecturers from various universities have downed their tools.
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 strike over unmet demands by the national government.
Dons from various 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; The Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Karatina University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT), South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU), Multimedia University, Maasai Mara University, Chuka University, and Cooperative University.
UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga in a past event.
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UASU
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.
University dons led by UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga issued a strike notice on September 11.
Two days after the notice was issued, the lecturers attended a meeting with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba which flopped after the talks failed to lead to something substantial.
The lecturers could not agree with the Education Ministry which wants them to continue working under the same terms.
“ It’s not feasible to continue earning the same in an environment where everything has gone up and our purchasing power eroded,” Charles Mukhwaya KUSU Secretary-General stated after attending a meeting on the strike with PS for Higher Education on Wednesday.
On his part, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga stated that his union’s members could no longer operate on promises and will only accept a tangible solution before calling off their strike.
“We don’t eat promises and promissory notes. We don’t care if it takes years. If they come with promises, we’ll reject them. We want something tangible,” he said after the meeting on Wednesday.
UASU & KUSU are agitating for the government to address several issues including; discriminative medical cover, the conclusion of a local Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), annual salary increments, staff promotions, proper staff placement to appropriate notches and the improvement of poor working conditions.
The strike by the university dons will paralyze learning in 35 public universities.
Maseno University lecturers protest at the institution on Monday, August 23, 2021.
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