President Kenyatta Flags Off Cuban Doctors to County Hospitals

President Uhuru Kenyatta has officially flagged off the 100 Cuban doctors to the 47 counties after they completed an induction at the Government School of Science in Nairobi. 

The medics arrived in the country on June 6th amid a court case challenging their hiring. Three jobless medics had filed the case at the Employment and Labor Relations Court, arguing that Kenyan doctors should have been given first priority.

On June 19th, Employment and Labor Relations Court's Justice Onesmus Makau dismissed the case saying: “The petitioners have not proved that the doctors rights and the rights of other specialized doctors were infringed by the decision to import the Cuban doctors.”

This cleared the way for the deployment of the Cuban medical specialists to hospitals and health centres across all the 47 counties. The specialists include three radiologists, 5 nephrologists, orthopaedic surgeons, plastic surgeons and neurologists.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) was also opposed to the recruitment of the medics from the Caribbean nation, arguing that it will cost Kenyan taxpayers billions of shillings.

“Cuban Doctors will cost the taxpayer more than Sh2 billion without the additional expenses of security, transport, housing and food by the county governments,” the union Secretary-General Ouma Oluga said.

President Uhuru flagged of the medics and also launched the 100-day Accelerated National Immunization Campaign at the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) Warehouse in Industrial Area, Nairobi on Wednesday afternoon.