University Staff Threatens Massive Strike Over Delayed CBA Talks
Thousands of students wishing to attend public institutions in Kenya may suffer substantial interruptions after the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) declared that it was considering going on strike.
KUSU Secretary General Charles Mukhwaya disclosed the union’s goals in an interview with Spice FM.
Mukhwaya cited the government’s failure to launch formal dialogue on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the 2025-2029 period.
Mukhwaya denied that a new CBA was nearing completion, stating that no negotiations had commenced.
He stated that the union had already presented recommendations to relevant agencies, including university councils, but had not received a formal response.
Dr. Charles Mukhwaya: You’ll find that the government itself, instead of providing adequate funding to these institutions, began by drastically reducing capitation. In fact, the most significant budget cuts to these institutions started in 2016. At the same time, the government… pic.twitter.com/Bk4V7ZP8O7
— SpiceFM (@SpiceFMKE) May 29, 2025
“The 2025 – 2029 is the successor CBA that is supposed to be negotiated,” Mukhwaya stated.
“Contrary to information out there, it is not ready for signing. We ought to have negotiated, signed, and begun implementation as of July 2025.”
According to him, once ideas were presented, university councils should have assessed them and formed a unified negotiating committee to begin discussions.
However, no such engagement has occurred.
Charles Mukhwaya: The government is to blame in this case. Who owns these private universities? It's the high-ranking officials in government. When public institutions are run down, it actually works to their advantage. Imagine students who have qualified to join public… pic.twitter.com/aP8aPMQ6PV
— SpiceFM (@SpiceFMKE) July 29, 2025
“These guys got our proposals and have never called us to the table. And that is where the clamour is,” he added.
“We are already late, and they have yet to call us. Instead, they are busy coming up with generic human resource instruments.”
He warned that further delays could result in industrial action.
“They are supposed to call us to the table. Any delays they cause would necessitate a strike. The longer they stay, we are going to go for them.”
Mukhwaya did, however, concede that the government has made headway in implementing the current 2021-2025 CBA, which is still in process.
“We did agree with the government that this CBA would be implemented in tranches,” he said.
“We received the first tranche in December. The second should have been sent by July 1 and the last by the end of the financial year.”
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The KUSU president also chastised Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi for comments stating that public universities should assume more financial responsibility through restructuring and retrenchment.
He accused Mbadi of being unsympathetic to the situation of university personnel and students, arguing that the CS had previously worked at the University of Nairobi and should have been more sympathetic.
However, the union welcomed the government’s proposals to do financial restructuring.
They maintained that so long as it was done in a manner that respects the staff’s rights, the union would have no problem with the same.
University Staff Threatens Massive Strike Over Delayed CBA Talks
