FALSE: Intern Doctors In Kenya Do Not Earn More Than The Newly Employed Doctors

A claim by the Health Cabinet Secretary Dr Susan Nakhumicha that intern doctors earn more money than newly employed doctors is FALSE.

Kenyan Health Cabinet Secretary Dr Susan Nakhumicha Wafula in her first interview with Citizen TV   claimed that medical doctors on internships are currently earning more money than the newly employed doctors in Kenya.

Dr Nakhumicha appeared on the JKL show on Citizen TV  together with Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Investments, Trade & Industry Moses Kuria and Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport, and Public works Kipchumba Murkomen. The Health CS claimed that in trying to go through some of the eventualities in her new docket, she found out that intern doctors earn close to Ksh 200,000 while the newly employed doctors earn a salary of Ksh 104,000.

A screenshot of Dr Susan Nakhumicha’s interview with Citizen TV. [Source: Citizen TV/Twitter]

However, the Secretary General Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) Dr Davji Artella denounced the claim in an interview with Citizen TV.

In trying to verify the claim, we checked the salary range of doctors as per their job groups.  Intern doctors appear in the lowest job group (L) and they earn an average salary of Ksh 132,000.

On the other side, entry-level medical doctors (with experience of between 0-2yrs) get a starting salary of not less than Ksh 138,000. Generally, employed doctors earn salaries between Ksh 138,000 to Ksh 400,000.

Screenshots of salary ranges for intern doctors and newly employed doctors. [Source: Eafeed]

This confirms that Dr Nakhumicha’s statements are false and under no circumstances do intern doctors earn more money than employed doctors.

This Fact Check was published by Sky FM with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.