Eugine Wabwile 
BY FLORENCE SIMIYU.
🔴Lecturers’ Strike Hits Day 8 as Pay Dispute Escalates Into Legal Showdown.
The nationwide lecturers’ strike has entered its eighth day, crippling learning in 42 public universities as lecturers demand the settlement of Sh7.9 billion in collective bargaining agreement (CBA) arrears. Lecture halls remain deserted across the country, with no sign of classes resuming soon.
The government recently released Sh2.73 billion to settle part of the arrears, but lecturers have dismissed the amount as inadequate, insisting that billions from previous CBAs remain unsettled. They argue that only full payment will end the stalemate, accusing authorities of making endless promises without action.The dispute has now escalated into a legal showdown. Through lawyer Titus Koceyo, the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has filed a contempt case against Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Treasury CS John Mbadi, and Labour CS Alfred Mutua.
Also named in the petition are Attorney General Dorcas Oduor, SRC Secretary Margaret Njoka, IPUCCF Chair Prof Fred Simiyu Barasa, and Secretary Prof Daniel Mugendi.UASU is demanding that three Cabinet Secretaries be jailed for contempt of court or fined Sh200,000 each, while also pushing for the seven senior officials to personally appear in court on October 6 to explain why they have failed to honour the CBAs.
The union further accuses the state of refusing to negotiate, conclude, and register the 2025–2029 agreement in violation of a recognition deal signed in 2019.Despite a court order suspending the strike, UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga has maintained that lecturers will not resume teaching until all dues are cleared. “We want nothing less than full payment. We have been patient for too long, but government promises have turned into endless delays,” he told protesting lecturers in Nairobi.
Parliament has promised to intervene. National Assembly Education Committee Chair Julius Melly assured lecturers that their grievances would be addressed, while Speaker Moses Wetang’ula encouraged them to follow the formal petition process. Baringo MP Joseph Makilabu added that the matter must be resolved once and for all.But the government has remained firm. Education CS Ogamba has cautioned lecturers against defying the courts, insisting that the Sh2.5 billion already disbursed is evidence of good faith.
Still, lecturers staged mass protests in Nairobi, vowing not to relent until the Sh7.9 billion arrears are paid and fresh negotiations for the 2025–2029 CBA begin.With both sides holding firm, the standoff has plunged the higher education sector into uncertainty, leaving the fate of university operations hanging in the balance.
