Eldoret Human Rights Activist Urges Striking Lecturers to Return to Class and Embrace Dialogue

 

An Eldoret-based human rights activist has appealed to striking university lecturers to call off their industrial action and return to their teaching stations, urging them to embrace dialogue as the only constructive path toward resolving their ongoing salary dispute with the government.

Kipkorir Ngetich said the prolonged strike by members of the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has caused immense suffering to students and parents, describing it as “punitive, damaging, and inconsiderate.”

“We wish to call upon the striking lecturers to embrace dialogue and return to their teaching stations while negotiations on salaries and working conditions continue. The industrial action has been so damaging to both students and parents,” Ngetich said.

He criticized the lecturers’ union officials for what he termed as “unbecoming conduct” that has tainted the image of the teaching profession, arguing that such behavior contradicts the values expected of scholars and educators.

“It is wrong for learned people of such status to behave like goons in a situation that requires wisdom and understanding. These are people who benefited from education and are now employed, yet they are punishing the very students whose futures depend on them,” he added.

Ngetich likened the lecturers’ actions to a doctor abandoning patients in the middle of treatment, saying that educators have both moral and professional obligations to safeguard the welfare of their students.

While acknowledging the lecturers’ right to fair pay and better working conditions, Ngetich emphasized that the rights of students to access education should also be protected. He urged both parties to foster a peaceful environment conducive to meaningful negotiations.

“Dialogue requires a safe and peaceful setting to be effective. A non-peaceful environment marked by fear and violence hinders communication, trust, and mutual understanding — all essential for resolving conflict,” he said.

The activist further appealed to the government to take decisive action if dialogue fails, suggesting that striking lecturers should be relieved of their duties and new staff recruited to restore normalcy in public universities.

“It is wrong for individuals who are still on the government payroll, funded by taxpayers, to conduct themselves in such a disruptive manner. Time has come for the government to restore peace and sanity in our institutions of higher learning,” he stated.

Ngetich called on the Cabinet Secretary for Education to “wake up and lead from the front,” saying that students have suffered long enough and an urgent solution is required to end the stalemate.

“A country where industrial action is weaponized against innocent students is heading toward collapse in the education sector. Rights and freedoms lose their meaning when they inflict suffering rather than deliver justice,” he concluded.