Congolese doctors working in Kenya have sued the Ministry of Health and Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale for failing to renew their practicing licences.
The doctors accuse the government of bias since Congo is being treated as a foreign nation rather that a member of the East Africa Community.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, the doctors want the court to issue an order of certiorari quashing, the decision by CS Duale dated 7th of January 2026, declining to renew their licenses and work permits, subsequently disallowing them from practicing medicine within the Republic.
The applicants also want an order compelling the CS and the Ministry to allow them to renew both their licenses and work permits, to allow them continue practicing and offering medical services to patients and especially citizens of the Republic of Kenya.
In addition, the applicants want the court to prohibit CS Duale and the Ministry from arbitrarily and without prior notice, proper communication and justifiable reasons, stopping, curtailing and/or in any other way placing hurdles for the renewal of the Applicants’ practicing licenses.
CS Duale issued a statement on the 7th of January 2026, curtailing the issuance of letters of no objection to the applicants herein, subsequently curtailing them from being able to renew their medical practicing certificates.
“The 1st and 2nd respondents’ decision was impromptu and with no prior communication to the applicants, most of whom have served in their capacity as medical doctors within the Republic of Kenya, for a period of more than five (5) years, without the hurdles they are currently facing,” Omari said.
According to court documents, the said decision was arrived at arbitrarily without proper and prior communication and/or consultation with the Congolese Doctors’ Association, based in Kenya.
The doctors argue that by virtue of their country of origin, the Democratic Republic of Congo having signed the treaty, to wit, The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community on the 8th of April, 2022, the applicants ought to be treated as members of the said Community and enjoy the rights and privileges that come with it.
The applicants also lament the Kenyan government’s decision to increase their license and work permit fees
“Suffice to note, that efforts by the applicants to meet the said new costs for both the renewal of their licenses and the work permits which have now been multiplied ten times, have been weighing heavily on them given their financial constraints given the they have been unable to renew their licenses and work permits, and some of them are yet to be paid from the various institutions, private and public, which they work for/at, Omari added.
Their license renewal charges have allegedly increased to Sh 90, 000 up from Sh 20,000 per person.
