The government will be forced to hire language translators for the Cuban doctors who were recently deployed to all 47 counties, further increasing the burden on Kenyan taxpayers.
Majority of Cuban medics mostly speak Spanish, while a few of them are able to communicate in English. This means that the specialist need language translators to carry out their duties as majority of Kenyans they will be attending to don’t understand English or even Swahili in some rural areas.
This further raises concerns on the high cost of maintaining the medics from the Island nation, given that they will pocket millions of shillings per year in salaries and allowances.
Nandi Governor Stephen Sang, who is the chairman of the Council of Governors (CoG) Intergovernmental committee, said the devolved units will recruit translators to enable the Cubans communicate effectively with patients.
“Governors are ready to work with Cuban doctors, but the main challenge facing counties is that they would require translators to make the doctors work without obstacles,” said Sang.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho said his administration will offer language classes, including Swahili, for three of the Cuban doctors working in the county.
“There is no need to worry. We will ensure they learn the language since they have already shown interest. But they will also not be working on their own as our local doctors will be there to help them in dealing with any cases,” said Mr Joho while addressing journalists at his office where he received the doctors.
The government allocated Sh1 billion budget in this financial year to cover salaries and other benefits for the 110 Cuban specialists who will work in local hospitals for a period of two years.
The doctors will pocket up to Sh882,180 per month, which is more than what Members of Parliament are paid.
They will also be given furnished apartments, flight tickets during their annual leave, paid utilities and cars from both the national and county governments.
If they do a good job it is…
If they do a good job it is worth it. Kenyans need doctors who are not corrupt.
Why not hire them as…
Why not hire them as instructors. Then, we can translate their knowledge into local languages that can be used by our doctors now and in future. Are we forever going to have translators? It’s time to start funding local languages if the government cares about its citizenry.
They should have invested in…
They should have invested in Kenyan doctors.
This Cuban doctors project is not worth the cost.Bad idea.
Hi this is a big joke of…
Hi this is a big joke of Uhururuto erra..translators..in medical field.
Although Spanish (Castilian) is the official language, please understand that Cuban-Spanish contains considerable variation, and even native-Spanish speakers might be lost in translation at times. The majority of Cubans only know Spanish, but in larger cities and tourist areas, English is more commonly spoken.It was a wrong move that is me
Kenya needs an annual budget…
Kenya needs an annual budget to fund development of local languages. Or start a debate on how the citizen feel about the government ignoring their languages. This is what will eliminate tribalism. Develop and respect all local languages. That is who we are!!