Public universities' staff continue with their strike, in Nairobi on April 4, 2018. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
6.April 2018
The fate of the one-month strike by university lecturers will be determined in court today, even as the government insists that it can only make a counter-offer after a staff audit and job evaluation are done.
Meanwhile, the University of Nairobi made good its threat not to pay striking workers, with a source at the institution saying about 1,200 of the 4,945 lecturers had been denied their March salaries.
The university’s Vice-Chancellor Peter Mbithi, through the Director of Corporate affairs, Mr John Orindi, said they will provide the details after submitting them to the Ministry of Education.
SALARIES
Meanwhile, Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga told lecturers who did not receive their salaries not to worry.
Meanwhile, Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga told lecturers who did not receive their salaries not to worry.
“They can withhold the salaries, but at the end they will pay since it will be part of return-to-work formula that we will sign,” he said.
Vice-Chancellors’ Committee Chairman Francis Aduol said universities are at liberty to decide whether or not to pay striking staff.
“At the moment I cannot speak authoritatively on universities not paying workers on strike,” Prof Aduol said.
The lecturers moved to the appellate court after the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that their strike is unlawful.
On March 19, Justice Onesmus Makau ordered them to go back to work.
JOB EVALUATION
But on Wednesday, the lecturers, led by Dr Wasonga, met University Education Principal Secretary Japheth Ntiba, who also insisted that they call off the strike.
But on Wednesday, the lecturers, led by Dr Wasonga, met University Education Principal Secretary Japheth Ntiba, who also insisted that they call off the strike.
Like Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, he asserted that the government can only make an offer to the lecturers after the conclusion of the job evaluation.
But it has not been possible to complete the exercise after the lecturers challenged it in court.
They agreed to hold another meeting with university councils, but only after today, after seeing the court’s decision.
On Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said that 25 out of the 31 public universities had submitted their data for auditing.
But that same day students took to the streets to protest the Ministry of Education’s failure to end the strike while their lecturers protested the government’s failure to make a counter-offer.
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