UoN students block Waiyaki Way, demand gov't talks to end lecturers’ strike

Police lobbed tear gas to disperse a section of University of Nairobi students who staged demonstrations along Waiyaki Way on Tuesday, demanding government intervention to end the ongoing university lecturers’ strike.

Members of the Universities' Academic Staff Union (UASU) and Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) begin their nationwide strike on October 2, 2026. Photo/Courtesy

The students blocked part of the road and burnt tyres, disrupting traffic before police moved in to disperse them.

The protesters said the strike had paralysed learning and delayed planned graduations, disrupting students’ academic progress. They vowed to continue demonstrating until the government engages university lecturers in talks to resolve the dispute.

“It is now a month since this lecturers’ strike started. The Ministry of Education is silent. They have failed us. We are the biggest losers in this fight,” one of the students, said.

Another student, Tony Ochieng, accused the government of failing to demonstrate commitment to resolving the stalemate, saying students were bearing the brunt of the prolonged strike.

Source: Citizen Digital