NAIROBI, Kenya – Waiyaki Way was thrown into fresh chaos on Tuesday, October 27, after University of Nairobi students took to the streets again to protest the prolonged lecturers’ strike, triggering clashes with police and disrupting traffic along the busy highway.
The fresh confrontation marks another escalation in student frustration over the nationwide industrial action, which has disrupted teaching and left thousands of university students uncertain about when normal learning will resume.
During Tuesday’s demonstrations, students lit bonfires and barricaded sections of Waiyaki Way with stones, forcing motorists to turn back or seek alternative routes as traffic ground to a halt.
Police officers moved in to disperse the protesters, firing tear gas that sent students scattering in different directions as tensions rose along the highway.
Officers later began removing the barriers erected by the demonstrators in an effort to restore traffic flow.
The latest confrontation comes less than a week after a similar protest on October 21, when UoN students blocked sections of Waiyaki Way to demand an end to the lecturers’ strike.
Second Protest in Less Than a Week
The renewed demonstrations underline the growing pressure on the government and university staff unions to resolve the dispute, with students increasingly taking their grievances beyond university grounds.
During the October 21 protest, students barricaded the highway and lit bonfires, disrupting transport as they called for urgent intervention to restore learning. Police subsequently dispersed the demonstrators and cleared the road.
The October 27 confrontation signals that the earlier demonstrations have not eased students’ frustration over the prolonged interruption of academic activities.
Students have raised concerns about missed lectures, disrupted examinations and uncertainty surrounding the completion of their academic programmes.
Sh11.9 Billion Offer at Centre of Strike Dispute
The protests are unfolding amid a nationwide lecturers’ strike that began on October 2, 2026, following disagreements over the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Negotiations between university staff unions and the government have remained contentious, with unions demanding a clear financial commitment to the agreement covering salaries, allowances and other employment terms.
The dispute intensified after talks collapsed over a government counter-offer of Sh11.9 billion for the four-year agreement, which the unions considered inadequate.
Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga has maintained that the agreement must be backed by firm funding commitments, particularly from the National Treasury.
The industrial action has disrupted teaching in public universities, leaving students caught between the unions and the government as negotiations continue.
Pressure Mounts for Resolution
The latest protests add to calls for the Ministry of Education and university staff unions to find a settlement that will allow lecturers to return to classrooms.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has previously urged striking lecturers to resume work while negotiations continue, saying the government was willing to address outstanding issues under the current agreement.
However, the renewed confrontation on Waiyaki Way highlights the growing consequences of the impasse for students and the wider public, with demonstrations now causing disruption beyond university campuses.
For motorists, Tuesday’s protest brought fresh delays along one of Nairobi’s major transport corridors. For students, the central concern remains when lectures will resume and whether the ongoing dispute will further affect examinations and academic calendars.
The latest clash adds urgency to efforts to resolve the lecturers’ strike, as students continue to demand a return to normal university learning.
