The Ministry of Health has revoked internship offers for 306 pre-interns following an investigation into the Nursing Internship Placement for the 2025/2026 cohort.
In a statement signed by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, the ministry confirmed that more discrepancies were identified in the initial placement list after 42 interns were initially found to have been listed unlawfully earlier in July. "Following a review of the 2,098 pre-interns posted on 1st July 2025, the Ministry has established that 306 individuals were not qualified for internship posting, as they had not yet graduated," a statement from the health docket read. The ministry also detailed some of the institutions that had their students lose their internship offers, with Kenyatta University having the most revocations, with 22.
More than a dozen tertiary institutions across the country had students who received irregular internship placements. Nurses attend to patients in a hospital ward.
Photo Guillem Sartorio As a result of the discrepancy, the 306 pre-interns saw their internship offer letters revoked, and all affected internship centres were notified accordingly to avoid disruptions in the process. The move came days after the suspension of Chief Executive Officer of the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) Lister Onsongo over an alleged breach of regulations involving the illegal placement. Further investigations from the ministry revealed that an additional 316 pre-interns were identified as qualified but were omitted from the original posting list. Because the 316 individuals met the eligibility criteria for the internship program, they are now set to receive internship offers, with the ministry instructing them to collect their offer letters in person on Friday, August 1, at Afya House. "Note that the offer letters will only be issued upon presentation of a valid National Identity Card," Duale added in the update. The ministry had initially raised alarm over irregularities in the deployment of interns on July 10, when Duale revealed 19 names of students who had not completed their studies, yet they somehow landed posting letters.
