Pay lecturers else we join strike, TUM students tell state

TUM students' association president Joseph Oloo said the strike, which has already paralysed learning, has left both students and their parents frustrated.

by BRIAN OTIENO

Coast24 September 2025 - 07:34

In Summary

“First years just reported last week, but there are no classes. Parents are paying rent and fees for nothing,” Oloo said.
Lecturers, who have been milling around campus singing solidarity songs, are demanding over Sh7.9 billion in arrears from two Collective Bargaining Agreements covering 2017–2021 and 2021–2025.

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Students at the Technical University of Mombasa have threatened to join their lecturers’ strike if the government does not release all pending dues owed to the dons.

On Monday, TUM students' association president Joseph Oloo said the strike, which has already paralysed learning, has left both students and their parents frustrated.

“First years just reported last week, but there are no classes. Parents are paying rent and fees for nothing,” Oloo said.

“If the government does not pay lecturers, students will join the strike. We cannot continue like this.”

Lecturers, who have been milling around campus singing solidarity songs, are demanding over Sh7.9 billion in arrears from two Collective Bargaining Agreements covering 2017–2021 and 2021–2025.

The government insists it has already paid Sh2.5 billion, but the dons say they will not resume teaching until the full amount reflects in their accounts.

Students also questioned the government’s decision to increase university fees while failing to meet its obligations to lecturers.

“Parents are selling land and livestock to keep us in school, yet we are idle because of broken promises. Let government and Uasu agree and stick to their word,” Oloo said.

The disruption is a bitter repeat for many students.

Third-year electrical engineering student Sean Omwami said every year of his studies has been interrupted by strikes.

“Since I joined, there’s been a strike every academic year. Exams are pushed, holidays and attachments ruined. For three years, I’ve spent Christmas studying for January exams instead of being with family,” he said.

Mercy Machogu, a first-year student whose education was already derailed by Covid-19 and the 2022 elections, said she feels her future is being wasted.

“We are the Corona people. Then elections, now strikes. We’ve been in school too long without progress. Government, please pay lecturers,” she pleaded.

The students’ threat now adds to the pressure on the government, as learning in several universities remains in limbo.