If there is one thing Kenyan university students did not want to hear in October, it is the possibility that their academic calendar could remain uncertain for weeks or even months. Yet, with lecturers still on strike and negotiations failing to produce a deal, many students are beginning to wonder whether they will return to class before the year ends.
For students who had hoped to attend lectures, sit examinations and move closer to graduation, the situation is becoming increasingly frustrating. The strike has disrupted normal university operations, leaving learners to wait as union officials and government representatives continue their negotiations.
And now, with Christmas and the New Year approaching, the uncertainty has inspired a sarcastic message that captures the mood of frustrated students: perhaps it is time to wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year before they even know when classes will resume.
The wording is a satirical take on the ongoing impasse, rather than a verified Christmas message issued by Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) Secretary-General Constantine Wesonga.
Another Round of Talks, Another Disappointment
On Monday, October 12, 2026, university staff unions rejected the government’s latest proposal during negotiations intended to resolve the nationwide lecturers’ strike.
According to The Standard, the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA) rejected the counter-offer over the proposed 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The unions argued that the proposal did not adequately address their demands. UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wesonga blamed the government for the collapse of the talks, saying its latest position failed to provide a credible basis for resolving the dispute.
The government, meanwhile, has maintained that negotiations are the way forward and has previously urged lecturers to resume teaching while the outstanding issues are addressed.
But for students, the disagreement between the two sides has a very real consequence: another day without the certainty of normal learning.
Wesonga’s Thursday Joke That Has Taken on New Meaning
On October 7, during an address to lecturers at Kenyatta University, Wesonga used humour to explain why he could not promise a definite date for ending the strike.
He recalled telling people that the dispute would be resolved by Thursday, before pointing out that there was a Thursday that week, another the following week and even one the next year.
The remark was a humorous way of underlining the union’s determination to continue the industrial action until its demands were met.
However, for students watching the negotiations drag on, the joke carries a less amusing implication. If no agreement is reached, the return to class could remain uncertain for longer than they had anticipated.
It is against this backdrop that the idea of wishing students a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year has become an ironic way of expressing their frustration.
After all, nobody joins a university expecting to spend a semester waiting for a dispute over employment terms to be settled.
Students Are the Ones Paying the Price
Behind every headline about failed negotiations are students whose lives have been interrupted.
Some have rented hostels near their universities and continue paying for accommodation even when lectures are not taking place. Others depend on money sent by parents and guardians, many of whom are already struggling with the rising cost of living.
For students who travel long distances to attend university, the disruption can mean uncertainty about when to return home, when to come back to campus and how to plan their expenses.
Final-year students may also worry about delayed examinations, graduation dates and the implications of an extended academic calendar for internships, employment opportunities and postgraduate plans.
Imagine a student who had planned to complete a degree this year, begin applying for jobs and help support their family. A prolonged interruption can disrupt those plans without the student having any meaningful control over the negotiations causing the delay.
For parents and guardians, the situation raises a different concern: they continue investing in education while waiting to see when their children will resume normal academic activities.
These are the human consequences that can disappear behind discussions about billions of shillings, salary increments and collective bargaining agreements.
What Exactly Are Lecturers Demanding?
The current dispute centres on the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is intended to address lecturers’ remuneration and employment conditions.
The unions have raised concerns about the adequacy of the proposed funding, salary adjustments, staff promotions and other benefits. They also want the agreement negotiated, signed and implemented in a manner they consider satisfactory.
The government and university employers must consider the financial implications of the agreement, including the resources needed to meet its obligations across public universities.
However, the disagreement has become difficult to resolve because the two sides have not reached a position acceptable to the unions.
The government has argued that discussions should continue and has urged lecturers to return to work. The unions, on the other hand, have maintained that the strike cannot be called off without satisfactory commitments on the outstanding issues.
Until the parties reach an agreement, students remain caught in the middle of a dispute they did not create.
Is Christmas Becoming the New Academic Deadline?
With October already underway, students naturally want to know whether the impasse will be resolved before the end of the year.
Christmas is usually a time when families reunite, travel and reflect on the year. For university students, however, the holiday period can also depend on the timing of examinations, semester breaks and academic calendars.
A prolonged strike could complicate those plans. Depending on the duration of the disruption and decisions made by individual universities, institutions may have to adjust teaching schedules, examinations or semester dates.
It would be premature to conclude that students will remain out of class until Christmas. No such outcome has been established. But the repeated failure of negotiations explains why some learners are worried about how much longer the disruption could last.
Students deserve clear communication from their universities about what the strike means for their individual academic programmes, as well as timely updates whenever negotiations produce meaningful progress.
The Government and Unions Must Remember the Students
The lecturers’ demands concern legitimate questions about employment agreements and the sustainability of public universities. At the same time, the disruption to learning places a heavy burden on students who have paid fees and organised their lives around their studies.
The challenge is to find a settlement that addresses the outstanding issues without allowing the academic disruption to continue indefinitely.
For the government, this means engaging seriously with the financial and contractual concerns raised by the unions. For union leaders, it means continuing to communicate clearly about the negotiations and the conditions required to end the strike. University managements also have a responsibility to keep students informed about academic arrangements.
Most importantly, the parties must recognise that the cost of a prolonged deadlock extends beyond their negotiating rooms.
A student who loses weeks of learning cannot simply recover that time by reading a statement announcing that another meeting has taken place. A parent paying rent and upkeep cannot suspend those expenses while officials deliberate.
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Perhaps?
For now, the proposed Christmas greeting remains a satirical expression of student frustration rather than an actual message from Wesonga.
The joke resonates because students are tired of uncertainty. They want to know when lectures will resume, when examinations will be held and whether their academic plans will survive another round of failed negotiations.
No one can responsibly promise that the strike will continue until Christmas, just as no one should promise an immediate return to normal learning without a settlement.
What is clear is that the October 12 negotiations failed to resolve the dispute, and the strike remains a serious disruption to public university education.
Students should not have to spend the remainder of the year guessing when they will return to class. The government, university employers and staff unions need to turn their discussions into a practical, credible agreement.
Until then, the most appropriate Christmas wish for university students is not merely a greeting. It is a return to the lecture halls, a predictable academic calendar and the opportunity to complete the education for which they and their families have sacrificed so much.
For thousands of learners, that would be a far more welcome end-of-year gift than another round of promises.
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