CS Ogamba says lecturers’ strike nearing resolution as varsities suspend semesters

Ogamba, who on Monday reiterated his call for lecturers to end their strike, said the government is “bending over backwards” to raise the funds needed to settle their arrears.

Speaking in Matuga, Kwale county after overseeing the handover of national examination papers to teachers, Ogamba said a meeting scheduled for Tuesday between officials from his ministry, the National Treasury and representatives of university staff unions would seek to find a way forward.

“The government has shown goodwill in addressing the lecturers’ grievances. It is only right that they also show goodwill and meet us halfway,” he said.

The government has offered to pay the Sh7.7 billion owed to lecturers and non-teaching staff under the 2017–2021 collective bargaining agreement in two instalments—Sh3.8 billion this month and the balance in the next financial year.

Ogamba said the money had not been budgeted for, forcing the Treasury to make internal adjustments to free up funds.

“I appeal to the lecturers to call off the strike and allow learning to continue. Let us take a month or two to address the 2025–2029 CBA separately, outside the strike, as we work towards a lasting solution.” 

He noted that while the government is committed to paying the arrears, limited resources make it impossible to release the full amount at once without disrupting other programmes.

“The government plans to reallocate some funds through a supplementary budget to settle 50 per cent of the arrears this year, while the remaining amount will be factored into the 2026–2027 financial year,” he explained.

The CS expressed concern that the ongoing strike is punishing students who had nothing to do with the 2017–2021 CBA.

“The students in universities today were not part of that agreement, yet they are suffering for no fault of their own,” he said. 

“Six weeks of learning have already been lost. When classes resume, lecturers will have to recover that time—whether by teaching at night or during weekends.”

He said dialogue, not industrial action, remains the best path toward resolving the impasse and commended university students for remaining calm, assuring them that the government is committed to restoring normalcy in higher education.

His remarks come as more universities begin suspending semesters and sending students home following the six-week industrial action.

However, lecturers have insisted on receiving the full amount at once before resuming duty.

Karatina University on Monday suspended its first semester academic activities for all students except those in the School of Health Sciences.

“Following disruption of teaching and learning for the last six weeks of the 2025/2026 academic year occasioned by university staff industrial action, Senate, in a special meeting held today, Monday, November 3, recommended immediate suspension of all learning activities till further notice,” read a memo signed by Registrar (Academic Affairs) Wangari Gathuthi.

The Technical University of Mombasa Senate also held a special meeting on Monday but by the time of going to press on Tuesday, a formal notice had not yet been issued.

However, it was widely expected the institution would also suspend learning.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

Twelve public universities have completely halted classes as the lecturers’ strike enters its seventh week, with others partially operational. The standoff over the Sh7.7 billion 2017–2021 CBA arrears continues to paralyse learning, even as the government offers phased payments. The prolonged deadlock threatens to disrupt the academic calendar and further strain public university systems already grappling with funding shortfalls.