Government Orders University Lecturers to End Strike as Arrears Are Cleared
Ogamba maintained that the government had made the necessary payments and urged lecturers to resume teaching and other academic activities.
The government orders striking university lecturers to return to work, saying it has fully settled salary arrears owed to university staff under previous collective bargaining agreements. Photo: Education News.
By Robert Mutasi
The government has ordered striking university lecturers to return to work, saying it has fully settled salary arrears owed to university staff under previous collective bargaining agreements.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the government had honoured its financial obligations under the 2017–2021 and 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), removing what the government considers one of the key outstanding issues behind the lecturers’ industrial action.
The directive comes amid a nationwide strike by university lecturers and other university workers, with unions demanding the implementation of agreements covering their terms and conditions of employment.
Ogamba maintained that the government had made the necessary payments and urged lecturers to resume teaching and other academic activities.
The dispute, however, goes beyond the historical salary arrears. University staff unions have also raised concerns over the implementation and funding of the 2025–2029 CBA, which remains a major point of contention between the unions and the government.
The unions have argued that their members are entitled to the terms negotiated under the latest agreement and have demanded that the government meet its obligations.
The standoff has raised concerns among students, particularly those whose academic programmes have been disrupted by the strike. Continued industrial action could affect lectures, examinations, research activities and the academic calendar in universities across the country.
The government’s latest directive is therefore likely to intensify negotiations with the unions as both sides seek to resolve the remaining disagreements.
While the government maintains that previous arrears have been fully cleared, the unions’ position on the implementation of the current CBA will be crucial in determining whether lecturers return to classrooms and normal university operations resume.
Students and university communities now await further discussions between the government and the unions to determine whether the dispute can be resolved and learning restored fully.
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