A team of experts from the Ministry of Health leaves for Cuba tonight to investigate the circumstances under which Kenyan doctor Hamisi Ali Juma died on March 17.
Health CS Sicily Kariuki said today that the team, led by Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman, will come back with a comprehensive report in the next five days.
The CS said some matters surrounding the doctor’s death had only been reported in the media and it would be unfair to assume it was true without finding out.
“Some things we have seen in the media. For now, we can only wait and get feedback from the team,” she said.
The Star had reported that Juma, a brother of Likoni MP Mishi Mboko, committed suicide due to depression. He was found dead on Sunday.
A source told the Star that Juma had a seven-month-old child who has been sick.
According to the source, Juma has since last December been making distress calls to have the government return home to attend to his family. The appeal was not acted on.
“He has been requesting the [Health] ministry to process his papers so he could travel back home to see his ailing baby but all efforts were in vain,” the source said.
Juma was among 50 medics sent to Cuba under government sponsorship to study Family Medicine in the framework of an MoU between Kenya and the Caribbean nation. About 100 Cuban doctors are working in Kenya.
Kariuki warned against politicising the Kenyan doctors deal with the Caribbean nation.
She said the public should exercise caution when commenting on the deal especially now a family has lost a member under unclear circumstances.