Ian Nyantika embraced his appointment letter for a nursing internship as if it were all he cared for in this world, even as Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale breathed fire over possible malpractice that saw 348 young healthcare workers posted erroneously. 

It has been a stressful one month for the young Moi University graduate, but yesterday morning, he breathed a sigh of relief as he was handed his posting letter by the CS at Afya House. 

Nyantika is one of the 316 pre-interns who were posted by the ministry yesterday. The young healthcare workers had graduated and qualified but were wrongly excluded from the initial list, Duale said in a brief ceremony. 

“We were among the interns who missed the posting that was done on June 30 by the Ministry of Health. We had many questions why we missed, yet our colleagues who we had graduated and studied together with had been posted,” Nyantika told People Daily in an interview. 

On June 30, 2025, Duale flagged off 6,484 interns, including 1,147 medical officer interns, 87 dentist interns, pharmacist interns (500), Bachelor of Sciences clinical officer interns (659), clinical officer interns with Diplomas (1,993) and 2,098 BSc nursing officers. 

Nyantika had led the 316 nursing interns in a five-week stakeout at the Ministry of Health headquarters, advocating to be posted as time was running out. 

“So we have been camping at the Ministry of Health. This is now the fifth week, and finally, justice has been served, and all those who had missed are eligible and have graduated, have gotten their equal chance of getting placement in the various internship centres in the country,” he stated. 

According to him, the problem occurred during verification by the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK). This has led to the suspension of Dr Lister Onsongo as the Chief Executive Officer of the council, pending investigation. 

Students listed 

It’s understood that universities usually send the list to the NCK, which then undertakes the verification of the names before sending them to the ministry for posting. 

However, this year, there was an error in the verification, where there were cases of students making it to the list.  

“And also due to the errors in the verification, we had a lot of people who have completed school and have not graduated making it to the list. So we moved to seek clarification on the criteria used, and the ministry assured us that if someone has graduated, they will be considered,” he said. 

Nyantika also exonerated the suspended NCK Chief Executive Officer of any wrongdoing, saying universities should carry the larger blame. According to him, the problem starts with the universities. 

“Why should a university submit the name of someone who has not finished school or someone who is not yet qualified for an internship?” he posed. 

He urged the CS to hold the universities accountable, saying they are the ones who led to this mess, resulting in one person losing their job. The intern also lauded the CS’s announcement that the ministry will digitise the whole verification process, especially in nursing. 

“The digitalisation suggestion by the ministry is a really good step to enhancing transparency and credibility because everyone will just be receiving their emails, and if one doesn’t get an email, then you know there is an issue and maybe you can do a follow-up,” he said. 

In Kenya, the nursing internship is a requirement that must be fulfilled once after completing a nursing degree or diploma programme.

Specifically, graduates of the Basic BScN programme must complete a one-year internship, either MoH or self-sponsored, before they can be registered.

Duale said the programme is reserved for individuals who have completed their training and formally graduated. 

“Once you have completed graduation and successfully passed the licensure examination, you will be eligible for prioritised consideration in the next internship posting cycle,” he stated. 

The CS explained that shortly after the initial posting of the interns at the end of June, the ministry began receiving complaints regarding the posting of 2,098 BSc Nursing interns.

In response, he ordered an immediate investigation into the discrepancies identified in the list. 

The investigation, Duale revealed, identified several irregularities, including students who had not completed their coursework being erroneously included in the list of 2,098 posted interns.  

“The Ministry has since revoked their internship offers and directed them to vacate the internship centres,” he said. 

The CS noted that 306 students who were included in the list had not graduated at the time of posting, whereas 339 who began their studies in 2020 or earlier were omitted. 

“Out of these, 316 have graduated, while 23 are yet to graduate,” he added. 

Besides the suspension of Dr Onsongo, the ministry has also launched investigations into the irregularities in the internship posting. 

The Ministry has also revoked the internship offers for the 42 students who were posted without having completed their studies, including the 306 individuals who had not yet graduated. 

Aggrieved nurses 

“These corrective actions have enabled us to gather here this morning to issue internship letters to the rightful candidates,” the CS added, even as those who were suspended claimed they were being sacrificed for the ministry’s mistakes. 

“We are BSc Nursing students from across Kenya, and we’re deeply disappointed by the Ministry of Health’s move to revoke our internship placements … even after we were officially posted, signed contracts, and reported to our respective internship centres,” a statement by the nurses reads in part. 

The embattled intern nurses further claimed they have completed their training programmes, with most of them having begun between 2020 to 2024. 

“Graduation has never been a requirement for internship—as long as one has completed their course and passed the final exams, and is eligible,” the nursing interns insisted, noting that the painful part is that most of them reported and worked for the entire month. 

The CS, however, insisted that the government can only recognise those who have graduated. Duale revealed that he had a nightlong chat with most of the affected interns, said the letter of completion doesn’t mean one has graduated, and therefore is not eligible for internship posting. 

“While the affected candidates were initially cleared and issued offer letters in good faith, a subsequent audit revealed that some had not yet completed the full graduation process, as required under the internship policy,” he said. 

He said the ministry is enhancing coordination among all stakeholders to prevent a recurrence of such incidents, including close collaboration with the Nursing Council of Kenya and training institutions to strengthen eligibility verification, ensure accurate and timely data sharing, and streamline communication through a centralised digital internship management system. 

The measures, Duale said, aim to improve transparency and efficiency throughout the deployment process.