The Ministry of Education is negotiating with the National Treasury and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for more money to end the strike by public university lecturers, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has said, as the walkout heads into its fourth week with no deal in sight.

Ogamba told journalists over the weekend that the government was working to improve its offer for the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) after the unions rejected it. "We are working with SRC and the National Treasury to improve the rejected figure, the Sh9.7 billion," he said, according to The Star.

He said talks with the unions would resume within days, once the Treasury commits the resources needed for a revised proposal. "We have taken their proposal and subjected it to economists to look at affordability, comparability and sustainability," the CS said. "We have to give an offer we can afford, comparable, and determine that we are able to sustain the figure."

'The strike therefore continues'

The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has not softened its stance. Secretary General Dr Constantine Wasonga said the government's position works out to roughly a 3 per cent increase in basic pay and "does not address the economic realities facing university staff," The Standard reported on Monday. The union pointed to official data showing petrol prices have risen 20 per cent and diesel 42 per cent since the start of the year.

Wasonga questioned how a four-year agreement could cost about the same as the previous one. "For two years we consumed Sh9.7 billion, so we cannot imagine a CBA for four years can also consume Sh9.7 billion," he said. The union wants a credible counter-offer and a firm commitment that university salaries will be paid through the National Exchequer rather than from student fees. "The strike therefore continues," UASU said.

Reports on the exact size of the offer have varied. The Standard quoted the union as describing the latest proposal as Sh11.9 billion, lower than a Sh12 billion offer made on October 12, while Ogamba and Higher Education officials have cited a figure of about Sh9.7 billion.

A Sh9.7bn offer against Sh98bn demands

The gap between the two sides is wide. Appearing before the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee last week, Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala said the government had offered Sh9.7 billion against union demands of Sh98 billion. "We are negotiating and we are confident we shall close this gap in the future," she said, as reported by The Star.

UASU is seeking basic salary increases of between 36 and 68 per cent depending on job grade, along with better allowances, medical cover, car loans, mortgages and pensions, and the hiring of more staff to ease workloads, Kenyans.co.ke reported.

Ogamba maintains that the government has cleared all arrears from the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 agreements, leaving only the current CBA unresolved. Speaking at a graduation ceremony at Thika Technical Training Institute on Friday, he urged lecturers to return to class while talks go on. "We are committed to the timely negotiation and conclusion of the current CBA," he said.

Parliament steps in

The dispute has also landed in Parliament. UASU, the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha) have petitioned the National Assembly over funding and implementation of the CBA. Speaker Moses Wetang'ula referred the petition to the joint committees on Education and Labour.

In their petition, the unions said the SRC had informed them that neither the ministry nor the Treasury had given written assurance that the CBA would be funded through the Exchequer. "This disclosure raises serious concerns regarding the credibility and viability of the negotiations," they said.

Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah called for "sobriety and dialogue" between the unions and the ministry, while Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo pushed for an ad hoc committee, saying the matter "has become an annual ritual."

Students are growing restless. Joseph Oloo, president of the Technical University of Mombasa Students' Association, warned: "If the government does not pay lecturers, students will join the strike."

The strike began at midnight on October 2 after talks between the unions and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum collapsed. Last year, a similar dispute kept lecturers out of class for 49 days before a return-to-work deal was signed in November 2025.

Photos: Kenyans.co.ke, The Standard