The Kenyan government and university lecturers reached a verbal agreement worth Ksh20 billion on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. It ends a four week strike that stopped learning in 35 public universities.
University Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary General Constantine Wesonga told the press that the two sides will sign the agreement on Friday, October 30. Reports on the deal say the money covers basic salaries and allowances under the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and that the signing will be a return to work formula.
“We have a deal on the financials. Tomorrow our technical team is going to sit down to put what we have agreed on on pen and paper,” Wesonga said.
Lecturers resume teaching on Monday, November 2
Wesonga said lecturers return to class on Monday, November 2, 2026, and told members to head back to their institutions.
“To comrades, start walking towards your universities. I want to assure you that from Monday, you shall have your lessons,” he said.
The unions will review the proposed allocations for individual staff members on Friday before they sign.
How the offer rose from Ksh12 billion to Ksh20 billion
UASU, the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and KUDHEIHA began the strike on October 2. The unions had rejected a 4 per cent annual salary increase proposed by the Inter Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), and talks collapsed on October 1. The unions demanded fresh negotiations and implementation of the 2025–2029 CBAs.
The government said it could not go beyond Ksh12 billion. The unions rejected that figure and said it equalled a 3 per cent rise in basic salaries. On Monday, October 26, an inter ministerial committee tabled a revised counter offer of Ksh11.96 billion. Talks collapsed that day over the offer, which covered the four year agreement. The unions declined it because it was lower than the earlier figure.
The government then raised its offer to Ksh20 billion, and the lecturers accepted. “Today we have agreed on a figure we have negotiated with the government, not a figure imposed on the unions,” Wesonga said.
Union officials, university heads, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo took part in the talks. Wesonga had said any agreement must carry a clear financial commitment from the government, and from the National Treasury in particular.
Earlier today, I held consultations with the Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, Mr. Felix K. Koskei @koske_felix and the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, Hon. FCPA John Mbadi Ng’ongo @JohnMbadiN, on the resolution of the ongoing industrial action by staff of public universities.
Also in attendance were the Principal Secretary for Higher Education, Dr. Beatrice Muganda Inyangala @Bettymuganda17, and the Principal Secretary for the National Treasury, Dr. Chris Kiptoo @DrChrisKiptoo.
— Julius Migos Ogamba, EBS (@HonJuliusMigos) October 28, 2026
Students protested and Parliament intervened
On October 22, the 20th day of the strike, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula led MPs in asking the Executive to end the standoff. Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah told the House that “students are wasting away at home.”
The Kenya University Students Organisation backed the lecturers and threatened demonstrations of its own. University of Nairobi students blocked Waiyaki Way on Wednesday, October 21, and again on Tuesday, October 27. On October 27 they lit bonfires and barricaded the road with stones, and police fired tear gas to disperse them.
What happens next
Classes resume once the unions and the government sign on Friday and finish the remaining processes. Readers can follow related coverage on Khusoko.
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