IN SHORT: A memo supposedly from Kenya’s education ministry directs university students to vacate campus premises due to the continuation of the lecturers’ strike. But the cabinet secretary for education says it is fake.
“The Ministry of Education wishes to notify all concerned parties that the ongoing lecturers’ strike will continue until January 2026 as negotiations between the Ministry, the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), and other stakeholders are still underway,” reads a document circulating on Facebook.
UASU is the national labour union representing academic staff in all public universities and colleges in Kenya.
The supposed internal memorandum is dated 30 September 2025 and appears to include the signature of Julius Ogamba, the cabinet secretary for education.
The document also directs students to vacate campus premises by 1pm on 30 September.
On 10 September, UASU issued a seven-day strike notice, citing the government’s failure to honour a bargaining agreement. Despite the treasury’s release of funds, the union said arrears from 2017 to 2021 needed to be addressed.
On 19 September 2025, the labour relations court suspended the strike, ordering the union and the government to come to a resolution. Referencing the court order, Ogamba threatened lecturers with disciplinary action if they did not resume work.
However, public university lecturers held a protest on 24 September as the strike entered its third week, creating uncertainty about when students would resume learning.
So did the education ministry really say the lecturers’ strike would continue until January 2026? We checked.
Ignore fake document
Africa Check found no credible media reports that the ministry directed students to leave campuses and that the strike would continue until January 2026. If the memo were authentic, it would have been widely reported by local media houses.
On 30 September, Ogamba posted the document on his official X account with the word “FAKE” printed across it in red.
“The letter currently circulating and purporting to be from me is FAKE. I urge the public to treat it with the contempt it deserves,” he wrote.
The circulating document is fake and should be ignored.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment