The nationwide strike across Kenya’s public universities has intensified after union leaders officially rejected a revised, reduced counter-offer of KSh 11 billion presented by the government.
The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) confirmed on Monday evening that during an Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting, government negotiators tabled a verbal counter-offer that dropped from the KSh 12 billion figure initially floated on October 12. According to union officials, the revised proposal amounts to a modest 3 percent basic salary increment—an offer they termed gross miscalculation given current economic realities.
“Against this backdrop of rising living costs, an offer that translates to only a 3 percent basic salary increment does not address the economic realities facing university staff,” UASU leadership stated, vowing to intensify industrial action across all public institutions.
The nationwide shutdown—which began on October 2—has brought academic operations, research, and examinations to a standstill for over 700,000 students. Beyond the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) disputes, unions are also demanding the settlement of KSh 7.9 billion in outstanding salary arrears from previous agreements.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and Parliamentary committees have appealed to the unions to suspend the strike and return to the negotiating table, warning that the prolonged paralysis threatens to derail the academic calendar across all public campuses. However, union officials insist that no return-to-work agreement will be signed without a legally binding, fully funded CBA.