- The initial MoU stated that the specialists would work in the country for two years, while 50 Kenyan doctors would be trained in Cuba for two years.
- The doctors also want the government to employ more local specialists
The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) wants the government to release the memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Cuba.
Speaking during the annual meeting in Eldoret, the Uasin Gishu-based doctors said the agreement should be made public.
"Just the way they have released information about the SGR agreement, we also want to know how much a Cuban doctor is earning while working here in Kenya," they said.
The doctors also want the government to employ more local specialists instead of bringing other doctors from other countries, as it is more expensive to hire foreign doctors than local ones.
"We have over 5000 doctors who are not yet employed, we don't want to hear the placement of Cuban doctors. Make public the amount they are earning, and calculate how much the amount can employ a local doctor," they said.
In May 2018, the Kenyan government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cuba.
The initial MoU stated that the specialists would work in the country for two years, while 50 Kenyan doctors would be trained in Cuba for two years.
The MoU obligates the ministry to ensure the specialists are paid their salaries by the tenth day of every month, to pay for their flights to Kenya and back to Cuba during annual leaves and final departure.
In 2020, the then Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe made an announcement through a letter to the Council of Governors chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya, a renewal deal between Kenya-Cuba doctors.
"This is to notify you that the ministry has renewed the bilateral agreement between Kenya and the Republic of Cuba on the provision of specialised healthcare services, through the deployment of Cuban doctors. The continued services of the doctors in the counties are therefore assured," Kagwe said.