The Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) of the DCI has taken over for investigation, the case where Mediheal Hospital is implicated in the trafficking of human organs harvested at its Fertility and Transplant Centre in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county.
Whereas a number of such cases have been reported at various police stations and DCI offices across the North Rift region, TOCU takes over to harmonize all reports and statements previously recorded, record fresh statements from victims, suspects and anyone with relevant information, as well as employ forensic analysis for a painstaking probe.
DCI boss Mohamed Amin called on any persons (victims or otherwise) who may have information that could help in the highlighted matter are, therefore, called upon to record their statements with the Head of TOCU at the offices held at DCI Headquarters, Block B.
The hospital was last week closed as the probe into the claims gather pace.
The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Health has launched a comprehensive 80-day public inquiry into allegations of unethical kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Hospital’s Eldoret branch.
The move follows mounting public concern and a recent exposé implicating the hospital in possible breaches of professional ethics, transplant tourism, and the commercialization of organ donations.
The probe comes in the wake of a series of damning claims by the Kenya Renal Association (KRA), which in a statement dated May 3, 2024, raised red flags over a growing trend of organ trade involving vulnerable donors and foreign recipients at the private hospital.
The statement cited testimonies suggesting coercion, lack of proper informed consent, and inducements to donors, in direct contravention of both Kenyan law and global ethical standards on organ transplants.
Addressing a press conference at Bunge Towers on Tuesday, Seme MP Dr. James Nyikal, who chairs the committee, said the inquiry aims to examine the legality, ethical compliance, and oversight of kidney transplant services at Mediheal, and to recommend necessary legal or policy reforms to safeguard the integrity of the country’s healthcare system.
“This is a serious matter that touches on the dignity of life and the reputation of Kenya’s medical profession. We intend to get to the bottom of it,” Dr. Nyikal said.
“We are going to ask critical questions. Were the procedures at Mediheal in line with the Health Act and Human Tissue Act? Was there evidence of organ commercialization? Were donors fully informed, or were they deceived or coerced into donating?”
Mediheal Hospital, one of East Africa’s leading private healthcare providers, has been offering organ transplant services for over a decade.
However, scrutiny intensified over the past two years amid growing unease about transplant procedures at its Eldoret facility.
The allegations suggest the hospital may have become a hub for so-called “transplant tourism”—a practice where foreign patients receive organs from local donors under questionable ethical and legal circumstances.
The committee will also investigate the role of foreign nationals, both as transplant recipients and as part of the hospital’s medical team.
Questions have arisen over whether proper immigration and licensing procedures were followed for foreign doctors, and whether recipient-donor relationships, especially in cross-border cases, were thoroughly vetted.
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