The Ministry of Health has withdrawn internship offers for 306 nursing pre-interns after it emerged they had not graduated and were not eligible for posting.
In a statement released Wednesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the revocations followed a thorough review of the July 1 placement list for the 2025/2026 cohort.
The move comes just weeks after the Ministry flagged 42 irregular placements in an earlier internal audit.
“Out of 2,098 pre-interns initially posted, 306 were found to have not yet graduated and therefore did not meet the requirements for internship,” the statement read.
Kenyatta University was among the institutions most affected, with 22 students losing their slots. Several other tertiary institutions also had students who were mistakenly included in the initial list.
All affected internship centres have since been informed of the changes to avoid disruptions in the onboarding process.
This latest shake-up follows the recent suspension of Lister Onsongo, the CEO of the Nursing Council of Kenya, over alleged irregularities in the placement process. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
At the same time, the Ministry has announced that 316 eligible pre-interns who were wrongly left out of the original list will now be offered placements.
These candidates have been asked to collect their internship offer letters in person at Afya House on Friday, August 1.
“Please note that offer letters will only be issued upon presentation of a valid national ID,” CS Duale said.
Concerns over internship fraud were first raised on July 10 when the Ministry revealed that several unqualified students had received internship letters.
Duale then ordered a full audit and warned of disciplinary action against individuals or institutions involved in the malpractice.
Medical internships in Kenya remain highly sought after. Intern doctors, for instance, can earn up to Ksh208,000 a month when allowances are included, depending on where they are posted.