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.
This doctors should do…
This doctors should do USMLE and apply for residency in US. We have shortage of doctors and every hospital you go to now are 80% operated by foreign Drs. The process is frustrating but worth it! Ksh. 150K is a joke for our educated folks. Whoever is interested to google on the formalities online or ask for help.
Kshs 50,000 for a whole…
Kshs 50,000 for a whole doctor is a big joke. This is why corruption is rampant in the country. By the way, how much does an MCA earn?? Get your priorities right.
I don’t think we should…
I don’t think we should advocate for brain drain to a country where your skin tone makes you lesser, yeah you will be paid well but then if truly being a doctor is a calling , one should help those in Kenya that really do need doctors .The govt should improve the compensation for these doctors and that is the help you should be championing – we have relatives in Kenya who still need good doctors
It is ashamed that the…
It is ashamed that the politicians, some without even degrees earn fortune and we starve the elite in the society, Drs are some of the rare species who need to be taken care of. Hard studies am talking about who who ‘ate’ books not the half baked, the only thing we should be talking now is building more hospitals and equiping them and no one should be spending money outside the country
Not even nurses make that…
Not even nurses make that kind of money. Peanuts what do you expect from a corrupt government where public officials can with comfort question “its only 7 billion in question”.. meaning 7 billion of stolen public funds to them is pocket change.. not to mention Weston, dolphins that the government is being charged for in stupid conferences. Bure kabisa
XG, I wish doctor in Kenya…
XG, I wish doctor in Kenya were paid what they are worth.But I dont I gree with your encouragement for them to apply for residence in USA.If all doctors left Kenya for green pastors, who will take care of the sick in Kenya.
The Health PS has no…
The Health PS has no business dealing with this issue. Kenya has regulations governing payments for employees on study leave. If PS want to increase salary for all doctors, that’s ok, but not just those in Cuba. Those in Cuba are on travel status and should be compensated on that basis. Doctors die in Kenya, Professors die in the Europe. There is depression in China, Japan, US, Kenya.
I don’t understand how our…
I don’t understand how our leaders work. They import doctors from Cuba and pay them 800K per month with housing and other benefits. Then we export some doctors to Cuba and they are paid 150K! Cn someone tell me the logic behind this?
You are right @imkgoogo. …
You are right @imkgoogo. Were there no regulations before? And what is the 50K supposed to be? Is it stipend? Who said the doctor committed suicide because of the lack of money…he must have had other problems… He was ‘gaining’ education after all.
@kibogoyo, I wondered the same too… but I think the Cuban docs are ‘qualified and working’ while our our docs in Cuba are ‘students’… free education with 50k poko