Nursing internships suspended as Ministry of Health orders audit over fake postings
Duale said the audit will affect the entire list of nursing interns and warned that disciplinary measures would be taken against those found responsible, including officials and training institutions.
Nurses expecting to begin their internship programmes will now have to wait longer after the Health Ministry suspended their deployment and ordered a full audit of the posting list.
This comes after revelations that at least 19 students who had not completed their training were included among those set to be posted.
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Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced this on Wednesday night during an interview on Citizen TV.
He said the decision to withdraw and review the entire list followed a meeting held earlier that day with the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK), where the irregularities were flagged.
“This morning I had a meeting with the CEO, and we found out about a number of anomalies of about 19 nurses who have not completed but have been given posting letters,” he said.
Duale said the audit will affect the entire list of nursing interns and warned that disciplinary measures would be taken against those found responsible, including officials and training institutions.
“We are withdrawing and auditing the whole list of nursing, and all the people responsible and the training institutions will have necessary action,” he added.
The revelation is the latest in a series of challenges facing the Health Ministry since it announced the deployment of more than 6,000 interns on June 27.
The Ministry had earlier declared that it had successfully posted 6,484 healthcare interns under the 2025/2026 cohort, with nurses forming the largest group.
“The Ministry of Health, in fulfilment of its commitment to ensure the timely deployment of interns by July 1, 2025, is pleased to announce the official posting of 6,484 healthcare interns under the 2025/2026 Internship Cohort,” read part of the ministry’s statement.
Of the total number, 2,098 slots had been allocated to graduate nurses. This list is now under scrutiny following the directive from the Cabinet Secretary.
The internship programme has already come under fire in recent weeks following reports that intern doctors had been issued appointment letters showing a monthly salary of Sh46,120. This triggered public outcry, forcing the Ministry to issue a clarification.
It explained that the amount indicated was only the basic salary and that the final pay would include various allowances under CSG 9 / Job Group L.
According to the Ministry, the actual monthly pay would range between Sh180,000 and Sh208,000, depending on the intern’s posting location.
The auditing of the nursing internship list is now expected to delay the deployment of hundreds of nursing graduates as investigations continue into how unqualified individuals were included in the official posting.
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