Tharaka Nithi governor Muthomi Njuki says withdrawal of Cuban doctors working in Kenya is not happening anytime soon.

Kenya signed a health agreement with Cuba in 2017 which saw an exchange program where Cuban doctors would come into the country to help fill gaps in county hospitals.

Kenyan doctors were meanwhile sent to Cuba for specialised training.

But after their two-year contract lapsed and was extended by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, the local doctors were dismayed.

The local practitioners argue that the Cuban doctors disadvantage Kenyan doctors who are trained and yet to be employed.

Most recently, the Council of Governors (CoG) and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has demanded that they go back to Havana. 

CoG Chair and Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru said the Cuban doctors are lying idle in the country, raking in millions of shillings while Kenyan doctors are working day and night with meagre pay.

But in Governor Njuki’s view, the doctors have boosted the county health workforce. The county boss told local TV in a Monday night interview that there is currently no plan to terminate their contacts.

“We cannot talk about withdrawing them (Cuban doctors) at the moment because one; as counties we don’t pay for them. Whatever was conceived is good for us because I have an extra workforce,” he said.

Njuki, who is also the CoG Health Committee chairperson, said that the Cuban doctors are disciplined because of what he described as solely focusing on the hospitals they are stationed at.

“They are very disciplined – and I’m not saying our doctors are not disciplined – but my doctors will work in a facility in the morning, and in the evening they have another place where they go to work. The following day, they may not come to work because they are working in another facility. The Cuban doctor will always be doing what they are supposed to be doing,” the governor said.

“We are not blaming them because there is a number of hours they are supposed to work and once they leave you cannot follow them in what they choose to do. They can work 24 hours if they choose to but the efficiency is not the same as those who is focused in one place.”

In Governor Njuki’s view, Kenya needs the Cuban doctor’s services, “not because they are better than our doctors, but they very disciplined, they are offering the services and they are not in competition with our doctors but complementing them.”

'Extravagant' contracts

The renewed push against the Cuban doctors by KMPDU and CoG is partly motivated by the contracts they signed, which some see as 'extravagant'.

In the contracts, the doctors were guaranteed comprehensive medical coverage under the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

Additionally, both the national and county governments literally foot all their bills, which range from travel to accommodation and food. 

The national government offers them security, homes, air transport for their holidays, and paid utilities. The county government furnishes the homes, pays for their electricity, water, and gas, among other things.

On top of this, each Cuban doctor earns a monthly salary of Ksh.125,000, while the Cuban government receives Ksh.500,000 for each of the doctors. In total, the government of Kenya pays at least KSh.625,000 per Cuban doctor.

Currently, most of the Cuban doctors are based at Kenya School of Government in Lower Kabete after they were withdrawn from their counties of posting due to security reasons.