Our public universities are not characterized by the silence of learning. It is not the silence that comes when a professor makes an insightful comment or when students bend to learn. No, there is something unusual about the silence. It is the silence of empty lecture halls, abandoned libraries, and unhappy students waiting in despair. It is the silence surrounding a strike that should never have happened, a crisis caused by betrayal and unfulfilled promises.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), a mechanism intended to safeguard university employees’ well-being and guarantee equity in their remuneration, is at the heart of the conflict. The reaction from universities has been incredibly unfair, even as employees continue with the strike. While some have kept their promises and paid full salaries, others have slashed pay in half while providing flimsy explanations. The worst aspect is that some have fallen into a puzzling and callous pattern of paying certain employees in full while punishing others with half pay. This exacerbates wounds at a time when harmony and fairness are most required; it is the most vile type of discrimination and does not represent leadership.
This is not simply lousy management; it is injustice. It’s exploitative behavior disguised as leadership. Betrayal in the name of pragmatism. Furthermore, the consequences are terrible for the entire country, university staff, and students.
The Government: Sleeping on the Job?
A country that disregards its teachers is considered to be setting itself up for failure. The Kenyan government cannot watch helplessly as the nation’s intellectual foundation is undermined. Universities are more than just establishments; they are havens for Kenyan dreams, hubs for leadership development, and factories of creativity.
The government’s hesitancy to provide regular and sufficient funding is more than just a pay delay. It’s postponing dreams. The morale is being crushed. The idea that knowledge, the most potent instrument for transforming a country, is negotiable is a dangerous one.
Billions are raised for political campaigns, large-scale projects, and roads, but the same urgency is lacking when it comes to compensating the individuals who will shape the country’s future. No amount of infrastructure can save us from the ensuing intellectual bankruptcy if universities fail.
Call to Action: Release the money as soon as possible. Put an end to treating university employees like afterthoughts. Give education the same top priority as infrastructure.
University Managers: Leadership or Betrayal?
It is, at times of crisis, not plenty that leadership is put to the test. Regretfully, a lot of university administrators are not meeting the requirements. By shifting the cost to lecturers and non-teaching staff and cutting salaries,” they have chosen convenience over standing with their employees and advocating for fair funding. The worst part of it is that they share the biggest cake from the CBA negotiations. Who bewitched us?
Even worse, some have resorted to divide-and-rule strategies, giving some employees a full salary while forcing others to make do with half. What sort of leadership splits a group of people who are supposed to be working together to share knowledge? When the employees who keep the institution going take home crumbs while the top administrators enjoy privileges, what integrity remains?
The employees are requesting fairness, not special treatment. The respect that experts who work day and night to mold future leaders deserve is what they are requesting. It is not just exploitative to pay half-salaries while demanding full-time dedication; it is also offensive.
Call to Action: Be honest. Be a fair leader. Don’t take advantage of your employees; fight for them.
The University Councils: Guardians or Silent Spectators?
University Councils are the ultimate guardians of governance, tasked with steering institutions toward honesty, accountability, and equity. They are sitting above the management. Councils provide supervision, uphold institutional standards, and protect employees and students from rash decisions; they are not ceremonial bodies.
However, many university councils remain silent during this crisis—some knowingly involved, others probably unaware of the full extent of injustice. However, ignorance is no longer a valid defense. It is a betrayal of the fundamental principles of governance to acknowledge that employees are on strike but permit management to pay some in full, some in half, and still others in perplexing combinations. A council that ignores this discrimination is not defending the institution; rather, it is idly standing by the side of justice. Councils need to take a stand, demand accountability, and restore justice now that the truth is clear, or else they will be permanently branded as complicit in betrayal.
To the councils: your silence is approval, not neutrality. The wound is made worse by your inaction. The nation anticipates that you will pose challenging questions: Why do some institutions cut salaries while others pay in full? Where is the financial stewardship accountability? What steps are being taken to safeguard students’ futures and the dignity of the staff? If councils don’t step up right away, history will note that those tasked with protecting university employees ignored their pleas for justice.
Call to Action: Break the stillness. Exercise true oversight. Uphold dignity and justice.
The Staff: Hold the Line for Justice
To the striking staff: you deserve praise for your fight. It is about dignity, justice, and fairness, not just pay stubs. You have been bearing the burden of a dysfunctional system for years, mentoring students in spite of scarce resources, teaching in packed classes, and doing your best work while constantly being neglected.
Your strike today is a moral statement, not a selfish one. You defend not just your own families but also the idea that justice and knowledge are inextricably linked. You serve as a reminder to the country that students cannot be inspired to have dignity by a lecturer who lacks it. Excellence in the lab cannot be ensured by denying a lab technician their compensation, and the backbone of administration cannot be supported by an unpaid secretary.
Keep your voices from being silenced. Continue to hold the line. Despite the odds being against you, history is always on the side of those who uphold justice.
Call to Action: Keep your unity. Keep the line for justice. You are the truth.
The Students: Collateral Damage or Catalysts of Change?
Students are arguably the biggest victims of this problem. There is a halt in dreams. Careers are postponed. Their future is clouded by anxiety. For many, each day lost is more than just a date on the calendar; it’s a chance missed, a scholarship forfeited, or a graduation delayed. However, students also need to realize that the lecturers are not against them. They are fighting a system that will not put their future first. Students require a high-quality education, which is why the lecturers are on strike.
Students will accelerate change if they speak out in unison and demand accountability from both the government and managers. Cohesion among students is a catalyst for change rather than collateral damage.
Call to Action: Raise your voice. Participate in the fight for justice; you are partners in change, not just collateral damage.
The Betrayers: Selling Out the Future
There are betrayers in every crisis—those who murmur in private, who exchange allegiance for favors, and who subvert group efforts for their own benefit. There are those within this crisis who are causing divisions and undermining the fight.
To put it plainly, betrayers are not forgiven by history. You might experience momentary solace, a discreet handshake, or a covert advancement today. You stooped for crumbs when others stood firm for justice. And the coworkers you deceived will never forget.
Call to Action: Don’t try to sell the future. What you get now will be a disgrace later. Join the fight, it is for your good.
Shareholders in the Nation’s Future
Every Kenyan has a stake in this crisis. parents whose children’s aspirations aren’t fulfilled. taxpayers with improperly handled contributions. If universities fail, employers will eventually hire these graduates who are only partially prepared. When the country’s intellectual engine fails, it could lose its ability to compete globally.
A nation starts to perish when its educational institutions go silent. History has repeatedly demonstrated that this is a fact, not an exaggeration. Without robust educational institutions, no nation can prosper. No nation can thrive if its educators are degraded and humiliated,
Call to Action: Demand responsibility. A country without educators is one without hope for the future.
Conclusion: The Nation at the Crossroads
This strike is about justice, equity, and the foundation of our country’s educational system, not just pay. Kenya is at a turning point. Rekindled dedication, equity, and acknowledging our university staff as heroes are the outcomes of one route. Deterioration, division, and a lost generation of students are the results of the alternative route. The choice is ours. The government needs to take action. Managers need to be honest in their leadership. Councils need to stop keeping quiet. Employees must remain steadfast. Students need to express themselves. And justice must be demanded by the country. Universities are not the only institutions that fail when the doors of learning close and the flames of knowledge go out. Kenya’s future depends on it.
You can buy our books on Amazon or at https://marymugo.com/shop/
Or at Nuria Bookshop by clicking the links,
https://nuriakenya.com/product/growing-a-business-empire-by-dr-mary-mugo/
https://nuriakenya.com/product/the-winning-strategy-by-dr-mary-mugo/
https://nuriakenya.com/product/dissecting-the-heart-of-leadership-by-dr-mary-mugo/
I fully associate myself with observations given in this article.
Thank you very much Prof. We the Dons must fight for our rightful space. Thank you for reading the article.