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 serious breach of regulations involving NCK and ten public and private universities.
In a statement on Friday, July 21, the ministry said that the institutions unlawfully submitted 42 Bachelor of Science (BSc) Nursing students for internship before the completion of their academic programmes.
The ministry added that this action is in direct contravention of the Nursing Council Act and the guidelines approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Consequently, MoH has revoked all internship letters issued to the affected 42 students with immediate effect.
The students have been immediately instructed to vacate their duty stations as investigations commence.
Dr. Lister Onsongo suspended
In line with this, the ministry suspended NCK boss Dr. Lister Onsongo, pending the outcome of a comprehensive internal audit of the full cohort of 2,098 BSc Nursing interns.
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CS Duale in turn appointed Ann Mukuna, Director of Standards and Compliance, to take over the operations of the council until further notice.
“The Ministry is committed to upholding the integrity of healthcare training and deployment. All individuals found culpable-whether at the Ministry of Health. the NCK, or within the leadership of the implicated universities-will be held fully accountable,” read part of the statement.
“This matter is being treated with the utmost urgency to safeguard professional standards, ensure compliance with statutory requirements, and protect the rights of nursing graduates and the public.”
This comes nearly two weeks after CS Duale hinted that MoH would revoke posting letters issued to a number of medical interns following the discovery of irregularities in the placement process.
The CS, while speaking on Wednesday, July 9, stated that the ministry would audit the whole list, warning that appropriate action would be taken if anyone was found responsible for the anomalies.
“We have found out a number of anomalies. Some nursing students have not completed [school], yet they have been given posting letters which we will be withdrawing.
We are auditing the whole list and if the Nursing Council of Kenya CEO or the training institutions are responsible, we will take necessary actions,” the CS said.
Duale confirms deployment of interns
The new developments come after MoH on Friday, June 27, announced the deployment of over 6,000 healthcare interns in a move aimed at deploying the interns on time.
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CS Duale while confirming the deployment in a statement emphasized the ministry’s resolve to support the training of Kenya’s future healthcare workforce.
According to the CS, the interns were set to be placed in various accredited facilities across the country for a year-long training program.
“The Ministry of Health, in fulfilment of its commitment to ensure the timely deployment of interns by 1st July 2025, is pleased to announce the official posting of 6,484 healthcare interns under the 2025/2026 Internship Cohort,” Duale said.
“The interns will be deployed to accredited internship centres, where they will undertake a 12-month structured internship programme designed to provide supervised clinical training and practical exposure 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.
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