Parliament sets up inquiry committee to probe kidney transplant scandal

Speaking on Tuesday, the committee's Chair James Nyikal said that the inquiry will seek to unearth details behind the scam and whether there were ethical breaches.

He added that they will also be keen on investigating the suspected criminal activities conducted at the facility.

"The committee has set up an inquiry committee. We are going to assess the legal and ethical integrity of transplant processes that are going on at Mediheal," he said.

"Also we are going to examine the role of foreign nationals and potential transplant tourism and whether those are legal or not....and to identify any gaps in our systems that can lead to this happening."

Nyikal noted that the committee will submit a report in 80 days

The hospital is currently under investigation for allegedly harvesting kidneys from poor Kenyans who are reportedly paid Ksh.294,000 and then selling them to recipients in foreign countries for Ksh.3.2 million each.

This comes after a detailed fact-finding mission by a multidisciplinary team appointed by the Ministry of Health revealed damning details on a possible organ trafficking involving foreign nationals.

In a letter dated July 20, 2023, a suspicious spike in kidney transplants involving Israeli nationals in Kenya suggests the existence of an international syndicate bypassing local health regulations.

The team - composed of transplant specialists, ethicists, officials from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), the Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services (KBTTS), and health ministry representatives - carried out an on-site audit from December 5 to 8, 2023 but never saw the light of day.

Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale said the team was mandated to verify the claims, assess Mediheal’s transplant practices, and provide concrete recommendations.

The team established that the hospital, a licensed level 5 private facility, had performed 372 kidney transplants over five years, mostly for patients from Kenya and the East African region, with some from countries as far as Israel, Australia, Japan, the USA, and the UK.

CS Duale added that, while Mediheal had embraced modern techniques - conducting 99% of its surgeries laparoscopically and maintaining consent records for all sampled donors - investigators found a string of concerning issues.

One such issue was weak donor-recipient verification, whereby the hospital could not provide adequate documentation to prove biological or relational ties between donors and recipients, especially in cross-national pairings.

Meanwhile, CS Duale has suspended two senior Ministry officials, Dr. Maurice Wakwabubi, acting KBTTS boss and Dr. Everlyne Chege, the technical lead who chaired the probe team. 

He cited that this would eliminate potential conflicts of interest during the ongoing investigations. 

The CS appointed Dr. Martin Sirengo, senior Deputy Director of Medical Services, to take the helm of KBTTS in the interim period.