Kenyan doctors who were sent to study in Cuba have complained that the government has neglected them.
The 50 doctors claim that some of their colleagues can barely afford 10am and 4pm cup of tea which cost Kshs 600.
The high cost of calling back home to check on their families has also dented their pockets as it costs Kshs 102 per minute.
This means in a month, one doctor would have spent close to Ksh 30,000 in a month for a ten-minute phone call daily.
“An exercise book you buy at Kshs 30 at home costs an equivalent of Kshs 800 here,” a doctor told The Standard.
According to the medics, the government last sent them money in September 2018.
The government deal that saw them leave the country, promised them a Kshs 36,000 monthly stipend for the two years of study.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman explained that the amount was arrived at because Cuba would provide the doctors with accommodation and meals.
He also added that the reason they were yet to receive their funds was that the stipend was supposed to be disbursed quarterly and the September payout was supposed to take them until December.
“So maybe they have just not received the one for the next three months, and that is because of the December holidays. Why would we send our students there to starve, we cannot do that,” Aman told The Standard.
After the revelations, the Ministry reached out to the doctors through the Kenyan embassy in Cuba on Friday.
In the meeting, the physicians proposed an increase in their monthly allowance.
In response the Health CAS stated, “That is also a request we have taken seriously, and of course we agreed to do it.”
