At least ten universities offering medicine courses have been accused of submitting false student information to the Ministry of Health in order to secure internship placements for their students.
In a statement on Tuesday July 22, the ministry claimed that the universities had submitted unverified student data in order to secure government-sponsored internships, labelling this move as unlawful.
The institutions, according to the Ministry, include Kenyatta University, Daystar University, Kenya Methodist University, Masai Mara University, University of Embu, Mount Kenya University, Umma University, Baraton University, Karatina University, and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
In a bid to enhance accountability in the placement of medical Interns in various healthcare facilities, the Health Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, said the ministry will establish an Internship Coordination Unit, to oversee internship placement of students in the country to ensure compliance and institutional coordination.
Additionally, the Ministry has urged all universities to comply with the guidelines set out by the Commission for University Education (CUE) to prevent over-enrolment.
Furthermore, the CS noted that the Ministry will only allow students placed through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to undertake government-sponsored internships. Self-sponsored students, on the other hand, will be required to fund their own internships.
Furthermore, the health boss has said that the government is in the process of engineering a digital platform which will enable institutions and medical students to submit their internship applications, a move that aims to enhance data verification and erase errors.
"National Guidelines for Internship Management: The Director-General for Health will issue uniform guidelines covering eligibility criteria, submission timelines, and stakeholder roles under Section 17(j) of the Health Act," the Ministry stated.
"The reforms follow an audit that revealed significant anomalies in the 2025/2026 internship posting, including the erroneous inclusion of 42 students who had not completed their training," it added.
Duale has further said that the Ministry is engaging with the National Treasury to secure Ksh408 million, which will cater for the placement of 339 verified nursing interns.
The reforms were made after Duale held a meeting with universities offering nursing programmes, a day after he suspended the Chief Executive Officer of the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) for unlawfully placing 42 Bachelor of Science (BSc) nursing students for internships.
According to Duale, the new regulations aim at restoring integrity to the internship placement process, as well as streamlining the country's healthcare ecosystem.
“These reforms are about safeguarding the future of healthcare in Kenya. We are building a system that ensures fairness, accountability, and quality in health professional training,” said CS Duale.
