JKUAT workers engage in fun games as strike enters its 4th week

Oliver Musembi 07th October, 2025 07:53 PM

Striking workers at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) spent their day engaging in fun games at the graduation pavilion as the nationwide lecturers’ strike entered its fourth week.

Led by chapter leaders of the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), the employees broke from their usual picketing routine on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, to enjoy athletic races and other activities.

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The unionists said they had introduced various ways of keeping busy while vowing to push ahead with the industrial action until their dues are fully paid.

“We are prepared to go the full hog. That is why we introduced new ways of keeping ourselves busy to stay active and healthy,” quipped UASU Chapter Secretary Shadrack Muya.

Lecturers and other workers at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in a tug-of-war competition. PHOTO /Oliver Musembi

The occasion, graced by UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga and other national officials, saw winners awarded various prizes.

Wasonga said the government had no option but to act on the demands of the workers, who are fighting for the implementation of the 2025/2029 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

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He also warned the workers to prepare for a very long strike, noting that the government had turned a deaf ear to their grievances and was even claiming that 70 per cent of teaching was taking place in public universities.

“When you say teaching in public universities is taking place 70 per cent of the time, then you seem not to know what’s happening in your ministry,” said Wasonga, in an apparent reference to Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba.

Muiga Rugara, the UASU Chapter Chairman, and Muya said the unionists had advised students to go back home as the lecturers dig in for a prolonged strike.

Nearly a month after the strike began, lecture rooms remained empty, with students spending most of their time outside the university compound.