The Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board, KMLTTB has raised the red flag over increased cases of forged academic documents presented to regional governments by job seekers.
The board has subsequently cautioned county governments against engaging services from unqualified job seekers in their health facilities as laboratory technologists and technicians.
An official from KMLTTB, Luke Chemwok urged the county governments to thoroughly verify the authenticity of documents being presented to them by job seekers from KMLTTB before hiring their services.
Chemwok was reacting to concerns by stakeholders in the health sector from the North Rift and Western regions over the high number of unqualified laboratory technologists who have secured employment in county government-run health facilities.
However, the most affected are private health facilities where a large number of quacks have secured jobs as lab technologists and technicians in the region, according to Chemwok
Chemwok made the remarks after attending a court case where a former senior union leader they arrested was arraigned in court for acting as a medical laboratory technologist at a public health hospital without registering with the KMLTTB.
The suspect has been working at one of Uasin Gishu county government-run health centres in the sensitive laboratory section for over seven years despite having never stepped inside the classroom of any Kenya Medical Training College.
Chemwok said they have enhanced crackdown on unqualified lab technologists and technicians operating in both public and private hospitals in the region where he claimed the vice was rampant.
“The safety of hundreds of patients seeking services in such facilities on a daily basis is in danger, there is an urgent need to avert a significant calamity by cracking down on the quacks,” said Chemwok.
“Health facilities sourcing the services of unqualified persons are posing great danger to patients who are supposed to go through their hands in the lab,” he warned.
Among the counties, they have intensified the crackdown that has led to the arrest of a number of unqualified laboratory technologists and technicians including Nandi, Elgeyo Marakwet, and Trans Nzoia. Other counties on the KMLTTB radar are West Pokot, Bungoma, and Turkana.
“We have arrested quite a number of unqualified Lab technologists and technicians, others have however gone underground on learning of the crackdown aimed at weeding out unqualified personnel in public and private health facilities,” said Chemwok.
By Kiptanui Cherono
