New PSC retirement policy risks crippling UoN, warns UASU

The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), University of Nairobi Chapter, has opposed a new Public Service Commission (PSC) retirement policy, warning that its implementation could trigger a mass exodus of lecturers, cripple academic programmes and threaten the financial stability of the university’s pension scheme.

In a quick news dispatch today, the union said the PSC Circular issued on March 2, 2026, and its April 28 addendum would lower the retirement age for professors from 74 years to 70 years, while senior lecturers and other academic staff would retire at 65 years and below.

UASU warned that the changes would disproportionately affect the University of Nairobi because it is the country’s oldest public university and has the largest concentration of ageing academic staff.

“The University of Nairobi is in a very unique position. This is the oldest university in the republic, and it has the most ageing academic staff. The circular will affect the University of Nairobi disproportionately. We are going to have a big percentage of our staff retiring in the near term,” said UASU-UoN Chapter Secretary Prof George Osanjo.

The union said the university has already lost nearly 40 per cent of its academic workforce through retirements, resignations, deaths and other exits, leaving it with only about 60 per cent of the teaching staff it previously had.

According to UASU, the university has not recruited a single lecturer since 2020 after freezing hiring as a cost-saving measure amid chronic underfunding.

It warned that implementing the new retirement policy could reduce the remaining workforce by another 40 per cent, resulting in a cumulative loss of between 60 and 70 per cent of the academic staff employed in 2020.

“The University of Nairobi cannot realistically survive such a drastic reduction in its teaching staff within a period of only five years,” the union said.

Osanjo warned that the retirements could force the closure of specialised academic programmes and disciplines that rely on experienced professors with decades of teaching, research and mentorship experience.

“The issue is that we will be disproportionately affected as the oldest university with ageing academic staff. It takes many years to train a PhD holder, unlike other areas of the public service where promotions happen every few years,” he said.

The union also raised concerns over the future of the University of Nairobi Pension Scheme, saying it is owed about Sh11 billion in unpaid pension contributions.

It argued that forcing a large number of lecturers to retire simultaneously would sharply reduce contributions to the scheme, threatening its long-term sustainability.

UASU further accused the PSC of introducing the policy without consulting universities, university councils or academic staff unions, arguing that the move undermines university autonomy.

It said the commission had overturned an earlier agreement reached between university councils, through the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), and the union on professors’ retirement age.

The union also cited conflicting rulings by the Employment and Labour Relations Courts in Nairobi and Eldoret on retirement-age provisions, saying the differing decisions had created uncertainty within the higher education sector.

UASU has urged the PSC to withdraw the circular and initiate fresh consultations with universities and other stakeholders.

It also called on Parliament to intervene and asked the government to develop retirement policies that reflect the unique nature of academic work while enabling universities to retain experienced scholars and recruit younger lecturers.

The union warned that implementing the policy at a time when universities are preparing to admit the first cohort of Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) Senior School graduates could undermine plans to expand access to higher education and worsen the country’s shortage of professors and specialists.