Pwani university lecturers join colleagues in nationwide strike

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Pwani University in Kilifi county. PHOTO: COURTESY.

Kilifi, KENYA: More than 150 lecturers at Pwani University in Kilifi County have vowed to continue with their strike which enters the second week, inline with the nation-wide strike, demanding for an increase of their salary.

Addressing journalists at Pwani University on Thursday, Chairman University of Academic Staff Union (UASU) Chris Ngeng said they will not relent on the strike.

He said the government is paying legislators such as MCAs without degrees a lot of money, while lectures are paid little salaries with a lot of work.

“It does not matter how long the strike takes but I assure all universities and the 27 sister universities that they were in a right side of the law and we will not go back to lecture until the government honors our previous agreement,”Ngeng said.

UASU Secretary General Rueben Musasia said the strike will only come to an end if the government agrees to solve the salary concern.

“This is something we are not joking on. We will never step in the university classes until President Uhuru Kenyatta and his government solves our payment,” said Musasia.

According to Elizabeth Munyanya, UASU treasurer at Pwani University, it has been a trend by the government to play cheap politics on matters of lecturer’s salaries.

Currently, students have been spotted loitering around the university; with some expressing fears of not being able to complete their studies on time.

Brian Okelo, a fourth year student undertaking bachelor’s degree in Arts, said they were supposed to end their semester in April this year but he fears it would not be the case.

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He called upon the government to intervene on the matter and come to terms with the lecturers to end the strike.

“We are here just wasting a lot of time. My urge to the government is to make sure they solve the issue in time for us to go back to class,” said Okelo.

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