Universities, ministry clash over disputed Sh7.7 billion arrears

UASU Secretary General Dr Constantine Wasonga (Centre) leads union leaders at a press conference over desputed arrears on October 14, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

Public universities and the Ministry of Education are at odds after the government rejected a discovery that it owes lecturers Sh7.7 billion.

The conflict reopens a long-standing dispute over the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The gap has left thousands of students at home for over a month as lecturers continue a strike over unpaid salary arrears, raising concerns about a paralysed higher education sector.

A joint technical audit by the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), and government officials confirmed the government still owes Sh7.774 billion in arrears arising from underpayment during the CBA period.

The audit followed years of contention over calculations used by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which had claimed only Sh624 million remained unpaid.

The committee found errors in SRC's methodology, noting that annual increments had been miscalculated using a "horizontal" rather than "diagonal" method.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court earlier upheld the universities' methodology and confirmed the CBA figures were binding.

"It is clear from the foregoing that SRC acknowledges that the annual increment is payable," the court noted.

"The exclusion of annual increments and resultant pension liabilities by public universities caused the difference between the Sh80.8 billion proposed by SRC and the Sh13.8 billion computed by the Joint Implementation Committee"

The joint audit found the total financial requirement for the 2017-2021 CBA was Sh16.57 billion, including Sh13.81 billion in basic pay arrears and Sh2.76 billion in pension contributions.

The government has disbursed Sh8.8 billion, leaving Sh7.77 billion unpaid.

At individual universities, the funding gaps are large: University of Nairobi is owed Sh1.42 billion, Kenyatta University Sh799 million, Moi University Sh720 million, and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Sh645 million.

Thirty universities are still owed over Sh100 million each.

At Murang'a University of Technology, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dickson Nyariki called for urgent verification of arrears computations.

"We must verify the calculations underpinning all arrears payments made to staff and compute the difference between the amounts paid and disbursed payments," wrote Prof. Nyariki, noting the critical nature of the review

University leaders have dismissed the government's stance as an attempt to "rewrite history," a move that signals a deepening standoff that threatens to derail negotiations in the higher education sector.

UASU Secretary General Dr Constantine Wasonga say the striking dons have vow to push on not to resume work until all arrears are paid in full.

"This is not just about numbers; it's about respect for signed agreements. Our members have been patient for too long. If the government fails to act, the universities will remain closed," Dr Wasonga said.