Strike at Kenyan public universities halts classes

By Magdalene Mukami

Nairobi (AA) – Learning at the country’s public universities was paralyzed Thursday after more than 8,000 lecturers went on a nationwide strike to demand a 50 percent pay increase negotiated with the government in 2013.

Lecturers walked off the job despite a court order that postponed the strike until next month and staff at schools asked students to vacate premises Friday until the government responds to the grievances.

Striking teachers and staff brought traffic to a standstill on major roads across the East African country as they held placards that read: “We are the crème de la crème of the nation, let the government increase our pay now or we won’t go back to class”.

Nduki Ndungu, who heads the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), said professors decided to join the country’s doctors who are on a one-and-a-half-month strike as they also demand a pay hike.

“We have agreed nationally that we are going to get the 2013-2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA),” she told reporters about the agreement that gave teachers a 50 percent pay increase. “Let the president hear us good, without the pay hike then there will be no learning across all public universities.”

The average professor earns 208,000 Kenyan shillings ($2,000) per month but teachers are demanding that it be increased to 312,000 shillings ($3,000). By comparison, the average Kenyan worker earns 20,000 shillings ($200) per month.

There has been a years-long dispute between the UASU, the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) and the government as professors claim they have not received a pay increase since 2010.

The strike has affected classes at least 33 public universities, most of which have students from low-income families.