Kenya withdraws Cuban doctors from Garissa and Wajir counties

[Deeq A.]

The Kenyan government has relocated Cuban doctors based in Garissa and Wajir barely four days after armed men kidnapped two doctors from Mandera town.

Early Friday morning, gunmen suspected to be al-Shabaab kidnapped two Cuban doctors from Mandera town.

The abducted doctors had been identified as Landy Rodriguez (a surgeon) and Herera Correa (general practitioner).

In a statement by the minister of Health, Wajir and Garissa administration was directed to evacuate the Cuban doctors to Nairobi following a national security adviser.

Garissa OCPD Aaron Morasae disclosed that the team from Garissa left on Saturday morning, and it was not clear when they would resume work.

Last weekend, the two specialists posted to Lamu and Tana River left in a huff.

“It’s true. The two Cuban doctors traveled out of Lamu abruptly over the weekend,” Lamu Health Executive Anne Gathoni told a local newspaper, the Nation.

“The Mandera incident is really traumatizing them, and that’s why they are seeking guidance and counseling. It’s a matter under discussion on whether they will return to Lamu or not bearing in mind that our county also borders Somalia.”

Kenyan authorities suspected the attackers are members of al-Shabaab and believed the two victims had been taken to neighboring Somalia.

The two doctors are among 100 Cuban specialists who arrived in Kenya in June 2018 under a bilateral arrangement between Kenyan and Cuban governments.

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