Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has vowed to clean up the internship deployment system for nurses, citing rampant corruption and irregularities in the process. Speaking in Nairobi on Friday during the flagging-off ceremony of 316 nursing interns, Duale said the ministry had revoked hundreds of irregular internship offers and launched investigations targeting senior officials.
The flagged-off interns had been previously denied their rightful postings last month, following what the CS described as a “tainted and corrupted” placement process within the Nursing Council of Kenya and some training institutions.
“I urged counties to prioritize procuring medical supplies through the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA), citing ongoing reforms that have increased the Authority’s efficiency and achieved a 90% order fill rate.” he said
The CS also announced that the suspended CEO of the Nursing Council, Dr. Lister Onsongo, is under investigation as part of broader reforms. Among the changes, the ministry plans to digitize the internship coordination process to eliminate human interference and prevent future irregularities.
Duale further revealed plans to reform the ministry’s Human Resource Department, signaling a major overhaul in how health internship programs are managed.
Speaking separately in Eldoret, the CS reiterated that the government’s commitment to transparency and meritocracy will drive ongoing efforts to sanitize the internship posting process and restore integrity to the nursing profession.