Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has strongly dismissed a viral letter falsely claiming the government had ordered university students to remain home until 2026 due to the ongoing lecturers’ strike. He branded the document “FAKE” and urged the public to disregard it.
“The letter currently circulating and purporting to be from me is fake. I urge the public to treat it with the contempt it deserves,” Ogamba clarified in a statement.
The controversial letter, widely shared on social media and student platforms, suggested that failed negotiations between the government and striking lecturers had forced authorities to direct students to vacate campuses until next year. Its circulation sparked panic among thousands of students already grappling with uncertainty over their disrupted academic schedules.
Learning in all public universities has been paralyzed since mid-September when dons and staff downed their tools, accusing the government of reneging on past agreements. The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) have vowed to stay away from lecture halls despite a September 18 Employment and Labour Relations Court order by Justice Jacob Gakeri suspending the strike and urging fresh talks.
Union leaders insist the government has failed to fully honour the 2017 and 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs). While Ksh2.5 billion was recently released, lecturers say the state still owes them Ksh7.9 billion, undermining their trust in the negotiation process.
UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga reiterated that the government’s failure to fulfil negotiated and registered CBAs left lecturers with “no alternative but to withdraw their services.”
The prolonged stalemate has particularly affected first-year students who had just joined, with some learners now threatening to join their lecturers in street demonstrations to push for a quick resolution.
Beyond the strike, the crisis has exposed deeper challenges in the higher education sector. These include unresolved audit queries in public universities, a significant shortage of PhD holders, and an aging pool of professors.
CS Ogamba acknowledged the staffing crisis, noting that while 76,000 teachers have been hired recently and an additional 24,000 are expected by December 2025, certain regions remain critically understaffed.
As talks drag on, the uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on students, parents, and the academic fraternity.
For now, Ogamba maintains the government is working toward a resolution, even as he warns against the dangers of misinformation.
