Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki has dismissed the possibility of ending the contract with Cuban doctors any time soon.
The governor who is also the chairperson, of the Health Committee at the Council of Governors, Monday, said the Cuban doctors are complementing the local doctors and not competing with them.
He further noted that Cuban doctors are disciplined and discharge their mandate as they are always in the facilities when they are required.
“We cannot be talking about withdrawing them at the moment because as counties we don’t pay for them,” Njuki said.
According to the governor, even though the local doctors are allowed to work in their own facilities after their working hours, it results in the problem of efficiency as some end up not showing up to work as they are busy elsewhere.
"I am not saying our doctors are not disciplined. It is allowed because there is a certain number of hours that the doctor is supposed to work, when he is off you don’t follow him on what he is going to do, he can decide to work 24 hours but of course, the efficiency when you work 24 hours is not the same as the one who just focuses on the same thing,” he said.
“We are not saying they are better than our doctors but we are saying we need them because they are very disciplined, they are offering the services and they are not in any way a completion to our doctors they just complement them."
In November, The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) demanded that the government release the memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Cuba.
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.
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.
