New Salaries For Lecturers, Senior Lecturers And Professors
A Sh20 billion agreement between UASU and the Kenyan government has resulted in new salaries for lecturers, senior lecturers, and professors in public universities.
The agreement followed the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Under the new deal, each lecturer’s salary will depend on their academic rank and salary scale.
This means that a lecturer at the bottom of the scale will take home a smaller paycheck than their colleague at the top of the scale, even if they both hold the same title.
Previously, lecturers and research fellows earned a gross monthly basic salary ranging from Sh121,928 to Sh187,710.
Under the new agreement, they will be earning between Sh126,196 and Sh215,845, which will increase to between Sh139,917 and Sh239,31 by 2028/2029.
This will be a sh 17,989 – sh 51,602 increase in their salaries.
Senior lecturers and senior research fellows will also earn higher pay. Previously, their gross salary ranged from Sh154,739 to Sh238,221 a month.
Now, their gross monthly salary will be between Sh 160,155 and Sh 273,925, which will increase to between Sh 177,568 and Sh 303,707 by 2028/29.
Associate professors, who are categorized below full professors in the salary structure, previously earned between Sh193,182 and Sh297,403 in basic gross monthly pay.
Their new range starts at Sh199,944 and goes up to Sh341,979 for 2025/26. By 2028/29, they will be taking home between Sh221,684 and Sh379,160.
Full professors and research professors have the highest basic salary range among the six professionals in academia.
In 2026/27, they will be earning between Sh240,632 and Sh411,569 per month in gross pay. This will increase to between Sh249,055 and Sh425,974 in 2027/28, before reaching Sh257,772 to Sh440,884 in 2028/29.
The UASU agreement also factors in staff in the lower academic grades.
Assistant lecturers and tutorial fellows will earn between Sh111,648 and Sh190,963 in 2025/26. Their monthly basic pay will reach Sh123,788 to Sh211,725 by 2028/29.
Graduate assistants and research assistants will earn between Sh65,875 and Sh112,678 in the first year, which will increase to Sh73,038 to Sh124,929 in the final year.
The monthly commuter allowance, intended to help cover travel between home and work, will be Sh18,000 across the six grades.
Annual leave allowances range from Sh8,754 for graduate assistants to Sh21,980 for professors.
Lecturers will receive annual leave allowances of Sh17,570, while senior lecturers will receive Sh19,021.
There is also an annual Book and ICT allowance. Lecturers will receive Sh14,000, senior lecturers Sh15,000, associate professors Sh17,500, and professors Sh18,500.
The government has stated that it will release the Sh20 billion over three financial years, which will be Sh6.7 billion in 2026/27, Sh6.7 billion in 2027/28 and Sh6.6 billion in 2028/29.
Money owed for salary and allowance increases between July 2025 and June 2026 will be paid in three instalments.
Those who are owed for July to December 2026 are scheduled to be paid with January 2027 salaries.
This settlement was the result of several weeks of negotiation between the lecturers, who had gone on strike, and the government.
Daily Nation reported that the government had initially presented them with an offer of approximately Sh11.96 billion before they increased it to Sh20 billion.
The return-to-work agreement also stated that any disciplinary actions linked to participation in the strike were to be withdrawn.
