The petitioner has been asked to present his case on June 6/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 31 – The Employment and Labour Relations Court has declined to suspend the recruitment of 100 Cuban doctors by the government.
In a ruling rendered Thursday afternoon, Judge Onesmus Makau refused to issue an order sought by a government doctor seeking to stop the deployment of specialist Cuban doctors to Kenyan hospitals on grounds that their credentials have not been scrutinized to ascertain suitability.
In his petition, Dr Samson Misangi, an assistant director of medical services and a consultant surgeon argued that the doctors set to be deployed in Kenyan hospitals from the first week of July had not been subjected to a competitive process before being hired.
He also challenged pay perks set aside for the foreign doctors.
The Cuban doctors were set to start arriving in the country from July 7 ahead of deployment to hospitals managed by county governments across the country.
The Ministry of Health recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Council of Governors to provide houses for the doctors as the national government pays their salaries.
Misangi petition was dismissed by the State which told the court in a replying affidavit that “credentials of the Cuban doctors contracted have been scrutinized to ascertain their qualifications.”
The resolution to hire the foreigners the government adds, has been necessitated following a deficiency in the number of medical and dentist Practitioners to ensure the realization of Universal Health Care.
The Kenyan doctors have since protested the decision accusing the government of failing to establish that no local doctors can offer the required services.
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