Cover photo: Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) members led by Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga during a media briefing. Photo: Philip Kamakya, via People Daily Digital. Campus Pulse does not own this image; it is used here with attribution to its original publisher and photographer.

Read the headline again, slowly: SET to end. Not over. Not done. Not "back to class tomorrow."

That distinction is the whole story — and it is the difference between a campus that plans properly and a campus that gets caught out by another viral memo.

After four weeks of a nationwide strike that began on 2 October 2026 and disrupted learning across public universities, the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the government reached a verbal agreement on Wednesday, 28 October 2026: a KSh 20 billion package for basic salaries and allowances under the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga announced the figure himself, and his wording is worth quoting exactly, because it tells you this was negotiated, not imposed:

"Today we have agreed on a figure we have negotiated with the government. Not a figure imposed on the union."

He went further in a message to lecturers, as reported by the Daily Nation and People Daily:

"We have a deal worth Sh20bn for the 2025-2029 CBA from Sh3.1 billion, Sh9.76 billion, Sh11.95 billion! The Sh20 billion is for basic salary and allowances!"

How we got from Sh11.96 billion to Sh20 billion

The road here was not smooth. The government had earlier proposed Sh9.76 billion, then about Sh11.95 billion, then a Sh11.96 billion counteroffer on Monday, 26 October — which the unions rejected as inadequate. UASU had been demanding Sh98 billion for the four-year agreement, including basic salary increases and improved allowances. The Sh20 billion figure is therefore a major jump from the government's last offer, and still far below the union's original demand. Both of those facts can be true at once.

Negotiations involved Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, according to People Daily's reporting of Wasonga's briefing.

The dates that actually matter now

  • Thursday, 29 October 2026 (as reported): technical teams were scheduled to sit down and put the verbal agreement on paper.
  • Friday, 30 October 2026, 3pm (scheduled): formal signing, and the moment UASU plans to officially call off the strike.
  • Monday, 2 November 2026 (scheduled, if signed): classes expected to resume.

Every one of those dates is conditional on the signing happening. Until Friday at 3pm, the strike has not been formally called off, and no student should treat a forwarded screenshot as a timetable.

The fake memo lesson KU students already learned

Kenyatta University students know exactly why this caution matters. On Friday, 23 October 2026, KU management flagged as fake a memo circulating on social media that claimed classes would resume on Monday, 26 October 2026.

KU's statement, reported by Citizen Digital and Education News, was blunt:

"All Kenyatta University students are advised to disregard the internal memo circulating on social media regarding the resumption of classes on Monday, 26th October 2026. The document is fake and did not originate from the Office of the Registrar (Academic) or any official university authority."

KU told students to rely strictly on its official channels — ku.ac.ke and its verified social media accounts. That advice now applies to every campus: if it is not on an official university channel, a union statement, or a signed agreement, treat it as unverified.

What students have actually been living through

For four weeks, students in public universities have lived with suspended timetables, uncertain exam and graduation plans, hostel and upkeep pressure, and a timeline full of claims. Reporting during the strike period described student protests, including along Nairobi's Waiyaki Way by University of Nairobi students, as frustration spilled onto the streets.

Campus Pulse is not inventing individual student testimonies for this story. No named, first-person student account was verified in the source reporting used for this draft, so none is quoted here. What is verifiable is the structural damage: a month of lost teaching time, disrupted academic calendars, and the scramble now facing every department to compress, reschedule or extend semesters once lecturers return.

That scramble is the next story. Watch for: revised academic calendars from your own university, not from group chats; exam dates; and whether the 2025–2029 CBA money reaches payslips on the schedule the signed agreement promises.

What we could not verify

Individual student testimonies, revised exam timetables, and the final signed text of the agreement were not available at the time of drafting, because the signing was still scheduled, not completed. This article must be updated the moment the Friday signing is confirmed or delayed — and the headline must change with it.

Sources