KUSU TUM chapter secretary Dr John Ogwang / BRIAN
OTIENO
UASU TUM chapter secretary Prof Josiah Odalo /
BRIAN OTIENO
TUM academic and non-academic staff on Wednesday /
BRIAN OTIENO
“Three weeks into the system and already we are pegged back!” That was a first year student at the Technical University of Mombasa expressing his frustrations of the lecturers’ strike on his WhatsApp status.
David Kizito, who joined TUM on September 1, said
they have not even started to get the whim of what TUM or even university
education is, and already they are being frustrated.
“We had started classes last Wednesday. I have
attended only five classes and now we have to wait indefinitely for the return
of the lecturers,” a frustrated Kizito told the Star.
He was among
about 3,500 students who joined TUM on September 1.
He called on the government to pay the lecturers
their due insisting the government has money.
“You cannot convince me that the government has no
money yet we see the opulence that the CSs operate on. It is wastage of our
money,” Kizito, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism and
Management, said.
He said it is inexplicable that out of nowhere,
government can pay Harambee Stars players millions in just two weeks and cannot
pay lecturers what was agreed years back.
“The government has money. Only that there is a
lot of embezzlement,” Kizito said.
His sentiments were echoed by Samuel Nzioko, also
a first year student at TUM, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Journalism and Mass
Communication degree.
He also joined TUM on September 1.
He said government should pay the lecturers and
other workers because there was an agreement in place.
“We did not
come to Mombasa to swim. We came to study and it is unfair to us for the
government to make us suffer this way,” he said.
Nzioki said he had only started classes last week.
“Now we have to download notes and read on our
own. I am sure there are some things which we will not understand and will need
guidance from our lecturers,” he said.
Kelly Omollo, also a first year Bachelor of Arts
in Conflict and Security Studies, was coy when asked about the lecturers
strike.
“I have my comments but I will reserve them. I
don’t want Subaru boys tom come for me,” Omollo said, alluding to the recent
incidents of abduction of government critics.
Lecturers’ at TUM on Wednesday joined their
counterparts across the country to down their tools.
They are demanding their share of Sh57 million out
of the Sh2.73 billion that the government owes lecturers.
The staff, led by Uasu TUM chapter secretary Josiah
Odalo, said they will not go back to class or clean the varsity until money
hits their bank accounts.
They are complaining of failure by the government
to implement Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) for 2021-2025, 2017-2021
and failure to jumpstart, negotiate and conclude the 2025-2029 one.
“It is exactly one year that were here talking
about the same issues. Today we are back on the same issues. We have now
launched the TUM chapter strike which revolves around three issues,” Odalo
said.
Last year, he noted, they signed a CBA (2021-2025)
which was supposed to be implemented in two phases, in July 2025/2026 and July
2026/2027.
“To date, the government had not honoured its end
of the bargain to remit Sh2.73 billion to all the universities,” Odalo said.
Odalo said for five years they have been in court
over the registered 2017-2021 CBA, which the government refused to honour.
The Court of Appeal on March 28 ruled that
government should pay universities their monies as per the CBA.
“In that regard, we are demanding Sh8.8 billion
from the national government. That money has not been released and no one is
talking about it,” Odalo said.
He said by now, September, the government should
have initiated discussions over the 2025-2029 CBA, because CBAs are negotiated
in cycles.
“We will only go back to class and serve fellow
Kenyans if those three issues are addressed, failure to which we will stay out
of class for however long it will take,” the Professor said.
Kenya Universities Staff Union TUM branch
secretary John Ogwang said the government has deliberately refused to honour
any agreement they have with university staff despite the agreements being
registered in court.
“Every time, they give half the amount agreed
saying they did not factor it in their budget. They ask for time to factor it
in supplementary budgets.
“But after we give them time, they go sleep and
forget about us while eating to their fill while we sleep hungry.
“That is why we have decided we are at a point of
no return. We will not accept to sleep hungry while our counterparts eat to
their gill in State House,” Ogwang said.
This comes days over 10,000 representatives
from teachers' unions and associations attended a meeting with President
William Ruto at State House, where they were promised goodies.
Education CS Julius Ogamba on Tuesday assured
university lecturers that the government is working to resolve the standoff
amid the planned nationwide strike set to begin Wednesday.
Ogamba
revealed that his ministry is in constant communication with the National
Treasury to ensure the Sh2.7 billion arrears are cleared within two weeks.
“We are working with Treasury as we speak to
ensure that money is released within the next two weeks, or by the end of this
month. We’ll be getting confirmation on the actual deadline, and this
information has been passed to Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu),” he
said.
On Wednesday, Ogwang however dismissed the CS
saying he only issued a placebo statement for the optics.
“He thinks we are jugheads. We are not. We know
the law and we know what is due us,” the Kusu branch secretary said.
He said all the monies must be paid in full before
they go back to work.
“When we were signing the 2021-2025 CBA there was
an agreement that come July this year, the 2025-2029 CBA will initiated before
the end of the financial year.
“We gave our side of the demands since March. We
are in September. Isn’t that playing with our minds? That is unacceptable,”
Ogwang said.
Kusu TUM branch treasurer Mwanamvua Abdalla said
the government has been deliberately stubborn when it comes to money issues.
“They only want to see people on the streets and
not at work for them to act. And we are ready to speak that language.
“We are not working from today. We are not going
back to class. We are not going to office until that time that the ministry or
the President, who we know is in Mombasa, will listen to us,” she said.
She called on President Ruto to hear the cry of
lecturers and university staff across the country, who also have children and
dependents.
She said it is sad that education in Kenya has
been reduced to a low level that lecturers have to beg for their money.
“We now know that when we have an agreement we have to strike first before that agreement is honoured,” she said.
Instant Analysis:
The CS said the union’s leadership, led by Secretary General Constantine Wesonga, is expected to meet and review the government’s assurances before deciding whether to call off the strike.
UASU, which issued the strike notice last week, has accused the government of reneging on its obligations under both the 2021-25 and 2025-29 CBAs.
