Moi University management and the staff unions on Saturday signed a Return-to-Work Formula in an event attended by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba.
The agreement between the University, the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) marks the conclusion of a months-long strike that had disrupted both operations and learning at the university.
“I want to declare the strike over. I want to impress upon dons of this University to report to work on Monday and let us work on a program to cover the lost time,” announced Constantine Wasonga, the Secretary General of UASU.
He stated that even though the government’s offer is not what the university staff had bargained for, they have decided to resume duty to pave the way for an amicable resolution of the dispute.
“To my colleagues, we do not get everything. But at least we have received something. Hata mkia ya ng’ombe ni nyama,” he said.
However, he asked the management to honor their end of the deal to avoid disruption of learning.
“To the management, we have signed an agreement here; kindly honor the agreement. We don’t want what has happened to this university to happen again,” remarked Wesonga.
The Cabinet Secretary expressed gratitude to the staff unions for their willingness to resolve grievances through dialogue and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to addressing their concerns. He also thanked the students for their patience throughout the resolution process, assuring them that the Academic Calendar would be revised to compensate for the lost time.
Additionally, the Cabinet Secretary indicated that the crisis at Moi University serves as a wake-up call for all public universities to pursue greater sustainability. He urged university managers to adopt transparency and accountability, noting that their decisions will have lasting impacts on future generations.
