Police in Nairobi have stopped striking lectures and other university staff from holding demonstrations.
The lecturers were matching from the University of Nairobi to the Ministry of Education’s Jogoo House offices, when police barricaded the road and ordered them to disperse.
The Universities Academic Staff Union Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the strike would not end anytime soon despite threats from vice-chancellors.
“We are not going to resume duty until a counter proposal is tabled,” said Dr Wasonga on Wednesday.
Kenya Universities Staff Union Secretary-General Charles Mukhwaya said that his union members would not be intimidated by threats from the universities.
FIGHT
“We are not afraid of the show-cause letters (from the universities), we shall fight to the very end,” he said.
The unions have asked the lecturers and other university staff to disregard all memos or directives from universities.
The lecturers later marched to the University of Nairobi main campus where they demanded to be joined by workers who were on duty.
The lectures said they had obtained a letter from Nairobi area police commander to hold the demonstrations.
ORDERS
Central OCPD Robinson Thuku told the lecturers that he had received orders from his bosses to stop the demonstrations
The lectures, who said their strike was legal, said they would only wait for the verdict of the court.
The lecturers blamed Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed for failing to find a solution to end their strike.
The lecturers are demanding that the government and universities council table a counter offer of the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The strike has so far lasted for 48 days.