Cuban doctors fly to Nairobi after Mandera kidnapping

A section Cuban doctors when they arrived in Kenya on June 7, 2018. Most have been recalled to Nairobi for insecure regions. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The State has pulled out four Cuban doctors from hospitals in two coastal counties and beefed up the security of nine others in four devolved units.

This follows the abduction of two doctors in Mandera County last weekend.

“The Cuban doctors from Lamu and Tana River have been recalled to Nairobi. The Government knows why they were recalled,” said Coast Regional Commander Marcus Otieno.

Mr Otieno refused to say whether the doctors’ evacuation was connected to the Mandera incident.

Reports indicate that the Cuban Embassy in Nairobi advised its nationals in areas bordering Somalia to return to Nairobi out of safety concerns.

The four doctors were spirited away by road and helicopter, respectively, on Saturday for an overnight stay in Mombasa before flying to the capital city on Sunday.

In Kwale, the security of two female doctors who treat patients at the Kwale and Msambweni district hospitals has been enhanced.

They have been moved from Msambweni township, where they have been staying since their deployment last year, to a more secure location within the county.

Three doctors from the Caribbean State are working in Mombasa while Taita Taveta has two doctors in Voi and Taveta sub-counties.

“We are working with the county commissioners to boost security at their homes and work stations so that they feel secure," said Mombasa County spokesman Richard Chacha.

Taveta Taveta Deputy County Commissioner Stanley Kamande said they had beefed up security for the foreign nationals while Taita Taveta Health Executive Daniel Makoko said the doctors had not raised any safety concerns.

Tana River officials were reluctant to provide any information about the whereabouts of two Cubans stationed at Hola District Hospital but The Standard established that Dr Melody Charmyrian and Dr Gabby Costea had not reported to work since Saturday.

Kenya National Union of Nurses branch secretary Darmon Kwaraa said that the doctors had left the county but Tana River County Intelligence Officer Wycliffe Sifuna disputed the claim, saying the medics were in a secure location.

"The two doctors are still within my border but I cannot reveal their whereabouts to anyone because it is a top secret. I can even call them now if you want," he told The Standard yesterday.

The Standard also established that the doctors in Kwale did not report to work on Saturday, prompting county officials and security agents to transfer them to a new residence and enhance their security.

Dr Milagros Sierra Soleto, a specialist in family medicine, and Dr Adriana Ramirez, who specialises in intensive care medicine, are now guarded by eight armed officers.

“They are around,” Daniel Nyasi, the Kwale County spokesman, told The Standard in a brief message.

Lamu Deputy County Commissioner Louis Rono said that Dr Liliana Casos, an orthopaedic surgeon, and her colleague Dr Denis Orozco, a family physician, “left for Nairobi for a weekend rest” but suggested their departure was temporary.

At the Garissa Referral Hospital, patients that showed up for their appointments with the Cuban doctors were turned away after the medics were evacuated to Nairobi.

But Garissa Health Executive Ahmednathir Omar insisted that the doctors had not been withdrawn. He also denied that patients seeking their services had been turned away from the hospital.

[Weldon Kipkemoi, Hassan Barisa, Jane Mugambi, Renson Mnyamwezi and Abdimalik Hajir]