CS Duale Flags Off 316 Nursing Interns, Announces Reforms
The Ministry pledged its continued liaison with the training schools and regulatory authorities to ensure that such administrative blunders do not recur
He also revealed that over 1,000 health centers had been closed and another 400 reduced in status owing to a variety of reasons, including lack of staff, inefficient deployment. Photo/ Courtesy
By Juliet Jerotich
Health Cabinet Secretary Hon. Aden Duale Tuesday officiated over the flag-off of 316 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) interns at Afya House, Nairobi. This is a milestone occasion considered a landmark step to correct recent anomalies in posting medical interns.
The interns had initially been left out of the initial batch of 6,484 interns who were deployed on June 30, 2025. They had been left out due to discrepancies that were discovered while conducting an audit, and the audit also revealed that 348 unqualified individuals had been placed inappropriately. As a result, the deployment letters of the 316 eligible candidates had been withheld.
We are here today to make things right. These 316 interns were qualified and ready to serve. Our presence today is a testament to our commitment to transparency, fairness, and accountability,” stated CS Duale at the ceremony.
He also revealed that over 1,000 health centers had been closed and another 400 reduced in status owing to a variety of reasons, including lack of staff, inefficient deployment, and poor governance structures. He underscored that it is imperative and not negotiable to reform the human resource system within the health sector.
You can’t change Kenya’s health if the health workers are demoralized. Universal Health Coverage remains a dream if patients sleep on floors and facilities don’t have key staff. For the President‘s health plan to work, healthcare workers must feel valued, guarded, and rightly deployed,” Duale emphasized.
He also said that the Chief Executive Officer of the Nursing Council of Kenya has been suspended as part of ongoing structural reforms. The Ministry is in the process of fundamentally overhauling the Council, including shifting towards computerizing the whole internship and deployment process in order to eliminate human errors and reduce scope for corruption.
“We are retooling the Nursing Council and modernizing our systems to bring an end to manipulation and bring order,” said the CS.
Remarking on the discontent experienced by some of the interns whose offers were revoked due to premature listing before graduation, CS Duale assured them that they would be assigned in the next cycle when they satisfy all the requirements.
With 316 interns reporting to their respective health facilities on August 4, 2025, Duale gave them heartfelt advice: “Work with honesty and humility. You represent the future of Kenya’s healthcare.”
The Ministry pledged its continued liaison with the training schools and regulatory authorities to ensure that such administrative blunders do not recur and regain the trust of the public in the internship and deployment scheme.
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