Congolese doctors sue Health CS Duale for declining to renew their work permits
By Zipporah Ngwatu, January 12, 2026Twenty-two Congolese doctors have sued the Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Aden Duale, and the Ministry of Health for declining to renew their licences and work permits.
The doctors who state that they have been working in Kenya for over five years aver that Duale’s decision has left them straining since they are not able to practise medicine within the Republic and they have families to feed.
According to the court papers, CS Duale issued a statement on January 7, 2026, curtailing the issuance of letters of no objection to the doctors, subsequently curtailing them from being able to renew their medical practising certificates.
Through a certificate of urgency filed at the Nairobi High Court Judicial Review Division on Monday, January 12, 2026, the Congolese doctors now want the court to bar Duale and the Ministry of Health from renewing their licences and work permits pending the hearing and determination of their application.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this application, an order of certiorari do issue bringing before this honourable Court, for quashing, the decision of the 1st and 2nd respondents (Duale and the Ministry of Health) dated January 7, 2026, declining to renew the applicants’ licenses and work permits, subsequently disallowing them from practising medicine within the Republic,” part of the orders sought read.
Further, they want the court to issue an order directing CS Duale and the Ministry of Health to allow them to renew their licences and work permits.
“An order of mandamus does issue compelling the 1st and 2nd Respondents (CS Duale and the Ministry of Health) to allow the applicants (doctors) to renew both their licenses and work permits, to allow them to continue practising and offering medical services to patients and especially citizens of the Republic of Kenya,” part of the application read.
Through their lawyer Danstan Omari, the Congolese doctors also want the court to issue an order prohibiting CS Duale and the Ministry of Health from arbitrarily and without prior notice, proper communication and justifiable reasons, stopping, curtailing or in any other way placing hurdles for the renewal of their practising licences.