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Government renews contract of Cuban doctors


Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Monday said the 100 Cuban doctors who are currently working in Kenya will continue working in the country after the government extended their stay.

Kagwe, in a letter to the Council of Governors chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya, said the government has renewed the Cuban doctors’ contract following the expiry of their initial two-year deal.

AGREEMENT

“This is to notify you that the ministry has renewed the bilateral agreement between Kenya and the Republic of Cuba on the provision of specialized healthcare services, through the deployment of Cuban doctors. The continued services of the doctors in the counties is therefore assured,” Kagwe said in the letter.

He added that the counties will continue to meet their obligations in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in May 2018.

Under the MoU, the national government is required to pay the doctors’ salaries while counties cater for their accommodation, transport, and other work-related expenses.

The initial MoU obligated the government to ensure the specialists receive their pay by the 10th day of every month, cater for their travel expenses to Kenya and back to Cuba during annual leaves and final departure.

KIDNAPPED

Their salaries are based on the civil service Job Group S under the government pay structure set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

In 2018, Kenya signed an agreement to improve healthcare through the participation of Cuban radiologists, surgeons, orthopedists, neurologists, and nephrologists.

The agreement between the two countries also saw 50 Kenyan medics travel to the Caribbean nation to receive specialized training, especially on family medicine.

In April, 2019 the safety of the Cuban doctors was jeopardised after two doctors Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez were kidnapped near the border with Somalia by the jihadist group Al Shabab. They remain in captive.