Learning at Moi University is set to be paralysed yet again after the university staff announced a fresh wave of protests on Friday, January 10.
In a notice signed by the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) Chapter Secretary and Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) Branch Secretary, the move for resumption of the strike follows the failure of the government to adhere to the return to work formula signed between the parties.
The industrial action begins immediately. The unions have directed all workers to stay away from their workstations until they receive further instructions from the unions.
“Following a meeting of all members of staff of Moi University, it has been decided that the industrial action commenced last year in August 2024 be resumed with immediate effect,” the notice read in part.
Moi University in Kesses, Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County
Photo
Moi University
The resumption of the strike comes barely a month after the university had inked a deal with the government, seeing them end a three-month strike that had paralysed learning in the institution.
The deal was signed on November 30, 2024, with Education CS Julius Ogamba and Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala present at the university to witness its signing. Under the deal, the government was to immediately provide Ksh500 million.
KUSU and the Kenya Union of Domestic Hotels and Education Institutions and Allied Workers Union (KUDHEIHA) also signed the deal that saw more than 900 university heads and 2,300 other workers resume work at the university.
Vice Chancellor Isaac Kosgey and Council Chairman Humprey Njuguna led the university in signing the deal. The university staff have been prone to holding protests as they agitate against poor working conditions and outstanding debts.
According to Busolo Wekesa, the UASU Secretary General Moi University chapter, the deal to end the national strike did not in any way affect theirs.
”We began our strike on August 26 and we will continue because we have our demands that we gave to the management of Moi University and we want to let you know that we have not received any solutions to them,’’ Busolo told the media at the time of the strike.
The strike led to both staff and students staging demonstrations at the institution in a rare show of unity against the university management.
The university responded by closing down the institution and issuing hiatus letters to over 1,000 academic staff for failing to show up to work.
If the government does not respond promptly, the students are set to stay out of class for a second time in two months. These numerous strikes have led to students overstaying in the school, with cases of medical students staying for over nine years without graduating.
Moi University Vice Chancellor Prof. Isaac Kosgey at a past function. PHOTO/MediaObserver.