Kenyan Doctors in Cuba to Earn Sh144,000 Monthly After Last Week's Suicide Case

50 Kenyan doctors sent to Cuba by the government to study family medicine could have their salaries increased by more than 50 percent.

In the latest move, the Ministry of Health has written to Attorney-General Paul Kihara seeking clearance to implement the pay raise.

The decision comes barely days after one of the doctors committed suicide in Havana last week, in a case linked to hardships in the Caribbean nation.

Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache says the medics will earn Sh144,000 per month, up from the current Sh50,800 if the proposal is approved.

Dr. Hamisi Ali Juma, who was a brother to Likoni MP Mishi Mboko, committed suicide weeks after the Kenyan doctors complained of struggling to cope with life in Cuba.

The medics are sponsored by the government to study family medicine under an MoU between Kenya and Cuba. 

The agreement saw 100 Cuban specialists move the opposite direction to Kenya to work in county hospitals.

“After they complained that the money was not sufficient given the high cost of living in Cuba the ministry enhanced their pay by 35 percent, which is why they have since the beginning of this year received Sh50,800 a month,” says Ms. Mochache.

“We have written to the Attorney-General to change the agreement and request for enhanced amount because they are entitled to 25 percent of the Sh144,000."

PS Mochache has also denied claims that the Kenyan doctors are being held in the Central American nation against their will.

“The programme was voluntary and we are not keeping anyone against their will. In fact, there was one of the medics who came to seek treatment in the country and after discussion with her doctor she asked to leave the programme and we terminated her scholarship,” she explains.