A meeting between Vice Chancellors (VCs), University Academic Staff Union (UASU) officials, and Members of Parliament (MPs) from the National Assembly’s committee on education unexpectedly ended without a resolution on Tuesday, November 12.
This is after all the VCs present failed to provide satisfactory evidence that the government is planning to release Ksh4.3 billion to resolve the salary crisis that has led to the current lecturers’ strike that has entered its third week.
After the MPs started fielding questions to the VCs, they quickly realised that they did not have sufficient evidence or documentation to prove that the government would be able to provide the funds as earlier promised.
Tinderet MP Julius Melly, who chairs the committee, dismissed the meeting and urged the VCs to provide better evidence at the next committee meeting slated for Tuesday, November 19.
UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga in a past event.
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UASU
He further directed that officials from the three ministries involved in the matter avail themselves to the next sitting and provide formal statements proving that the government would commit to releasing the funds.
The three ministries; Education, Labour and National Treasury will be expected to give a formal statement that the government is ready to disburse the funds.
This is the second week in a row that a similar sitting has ended without a resolution over the same issue.
In a similar meeting last week, November 5, the meeting failed to kick off after the Interpublic Universities Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) failed to provide documents approving the Ksh4.3 billion offer to the striking lecturers.
UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga told the MPs that the union would not accept a verbal offer of Ksh4.3 billion when their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) clearly stipulates Ksh9.7 billion.
“The union wishes to be shown how the CBA has been implemented. We are requesting that let us not deviate from how we have been implementing our CBAs by bringing in new parameters,” Wesonga insisted.
Following this declaration, Professor Fred Simiyu Barasa, the Chairman of the IPUCCF assured the committee that they could provide the letter instantly if need be but committee chair MP Melly directed that the meeting be adjourned and the documents be provided in the following meeting.
Despite the assurance in the previous meeting, the documents were not available for review in this Tuesday’s meeting, leading to the committee chair to once again order for the same in the next meeting, further roping in more ministries into the matter.
A collage photo of the ongoing University lecturer’s strike, 18 September 2024.
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File
