The Ministry of Health has confirmed that a Kenyan doctor who was undertaking postgraduate diploma training in family medicine in Cuba has committed suicide.
Dr Hamisi Ali Juma was reported dead on March 17, 2019, in what CS Sicily Kariuki termed as a mystery that is under investigation.
“The circumstances resulting in the death are not clear yet as investigations by Cuban authorities are ongoing.
“As we await the full police report on the case, we urge and request fellow Kenyans especially his fellow student colleagues in Cuba to be sensitive to the grieving family and refrain from discussing the case on social and regular media,” the statement read in part.
A total of 50 doctors had been sponsored by the government as part of the MOU signed by the two countries to receive specialized training in Cuba.
The doctors had raised complaints over poor living conditions and a meagre stipend that could not meet their daily expenditure in their host country.
The doctors have barely completed a year in Cuba as the programme is expected to last one more year.
The Ministry assured the public that the doctor’s body would be ferried to Kenya at the earliest possible time even as the Kenyan Embassy in Cuba follows investigations keenly.