The Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has suspended the Chief Executive Officer of the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK), Dr. Lister Onsongo.
This comes after the ministry uncovered a critical breach of laws involving NCK and ten private and non-private universities.
In a press release on Friday, July 21, the ministry stated that the establishments unlawfully submitted 42 Bachelor of Science (BSc) Nursing college students for internship earlier than the completion of their tutorial programmes.
The ministry added that this motion is in direct contravention of the Nursing Council Act and the rules accepted by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Consequently, MoH has revoked all internship letters issued to the affected 42 college students with instant impact.
The college students have been instantly instructed to vacate their obligation stations as investigations begin.
Dr. Lister Onsongo suspended
In line with this, the ministry suspended NCK boss Dr. Lister Onsongo, pending the end result of a complete inside audit of the complete cohort of two,098 BSc Nursing interns.
CS Duale in flip appointed Ann Mukuna, Director of Standards and Compliance, to take over the operations of the council till additional discover.
“The Ministry is dedicated to upholding the integrity of healthcare coaching and deployment. All people discovered culpable-whether on the Ministry of Health. the NCK, or throughout the management of the implicated universities-will be held totally accountable,” learn a part of the assertion.
“This matter is being handled with the utmost urgency to safeguard skilled requirements, guarantee compliance with statutory necessities, and defend the rights of nursing graduates and the general public.”
This comes practically two weeks after CS Duale hinted that MoH would revoke posting letters issued to quite a few medical interns following the invention of irregularities within the placement course of.
The CS, whereas talking on Wednesday, July 9, said that the ministry would audit the entire listing, warning that acceptable motion can be taken if anybody was discovered chargeable for the anomalies.
“We have came upon quite a few anomalies. Some nursing college students haven’t accomplished [school], but they’ve been given posting letters which we can be withdrawing.
We are auditing the entire listing and if the Nursing Council of Kenya CEO or the coaching establishments are accountable, we are going to take essential actions,” the CS stated.
Duale confirms deployment of interns
The new developments come after MoH on Friday, June 27, introduced the deployment of over 6,000 healthcare interns in a transfer aimed toward deploying the interns on time.
CS Duale whereas confirming the deployment in a press release emphasised the ministry’s resolve to assist the coaching of Kenya’s future healthcare workforce.
According to the CS, the interns have been set to be positioned in numerous accredited services throughout the nation for a year-long coaching program.
“The Ministry of Health, in fulfilment of its dedication to make sure the well timed deployment of interns by 1st July 2025, is happy to announce the official posting of 6,484 healthcare interns underneath the 2025/2026 Internship Cohort,” Duale stated.
“The interns can be deployed to accredited internship centres, the place they’ll undertake a 12-month structured internship programme designed to offer supervised medical coaching and sensible publicity in real-world healthcare settings.”
The deployment included 2,098 BSc Nursing Officer interns, 1,993 Clinical Officer interns (Diploma), 1,147 Medical Officer interns, 659 BSc Clinical Officer interns, 500 Pharmacist interns, and 87 Dentist interns.
