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HomeEDUCATIONUasu Issues New Strike Warning As Egerton University Woes Worsens

Uasu Issues New Strike Warning As Egerton University Woes Worsens

Uasu Issues New Strike Warning As Egerton University Woes Worsens

Uasu Issues New Strike Warning As Egerton University Woes Worsens 

After the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Egerton Chapter issued a strike warning on February 6, the financial crisis at the cash-strapped Egerton University still needs to be finished.

The lecturers at Egerton University have continued to pressure the administration, threatening to go on strike next month if they are not paid their full salary as the court has ordered.

Dons under the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) stated newsrooms on Friday following a Special General Meeting (SGM), citing management’s reluctance to comply with previous court rulings and stating that they would be obliged to strike to compel the institution to pay their dues.

“Concerned that the University has failed to comply with the said order, further noting that the Council had been found guilty of being in contempt of the said order, the members resolved that besides seeking further contempt proceedings, they shall withdraw labour with effect from February 6, 2023, if the University will not have complied with the court order,” stated the notice by UASU Chapter Secretary Dr Grace Kibue.

During the same press conference in Nakuru, the union demanded the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Professor Isaac Kibwage.

Dr Kibue stated that the dons’ 50 percent pay increase over the past three years had left them struggling to satisfy their daily requirements.

“You have now ignored two directives. One was to pay one hundred cent, and the court has now ruled that our salaries are illegal and illegitimate,” she stated.

“The second was the order suspending our strike which said that we should sit together and iron out our differences. Instead of doing that, they are issuing letters of disciplinary.”

The union blames the university management board and council for their problems, claiming that the leadership has failed to commit to finding a remedy.

“It is very unfortunate that someone injures you and his complaint is that you are crying,” UASU Chairperson Mwaniki Ngare said.

In December of last year, for the first time in decades, Egerton University did not have a graduation ceremony due to what the administration dubbed a “cleanup exercise” of its graduation list.

Therefore, if the impasse is not resolved promptly, thousands of students may have to wait longer to graduate.

Uasu stated in a strike notice sent to Hukka Wario, head of the Egerton University Council, that it was compelled to issue the notice due to the university’s reluctance to comply with the court decision on May 30, 2022.

The court ordered the university to pay the lecturers’ wages in full beginning in November 2021.

The institution’s employees are now requesting that President William Ruto intervene.

In the meantime, the institution’s management has suffered another setback in its protracted legal battle with the Uasu chapter’s top leadership.

The union won the first round after the court ordered the management to cease all disciplinary action against the chairperson and secretary of the Uasu Chapter, Prof. Ngare Kariuki and Grace Wanjiru Kibuu, respectively.

Friday, January 13, 2023, Justice Jorum Nelson Abuodha of Employment and Labour Relations issued orders prohibiting the university administration, council, and vice-chancellor from summoning the two officials for disciplinary action.

After management lowered the salary of its members by forty percent, the union has advocated for their complete reinstatement.

Prof. Kibwage and eight university council members were forced to pay a Sh100,000 fine or spend one month in jail for ignoring court orders to pay full academic salaries.

Uasu Issues New Strike Warning As Egerton University Woes Worsens 

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