MPs launch inquiry into alleged organ trafficking at Mediheal

The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Health has launched an 80-day public inquiry into allegations of unethical kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Group of Hospitals.

The move follows public concern and a recent exposé on possible breaches of professional ethics, transplant tourism, and commercialisation of organ donations.

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 the facility.

He said the committee will 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,” Nyikal told reporters at Parliament Buildings.

“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 commercialisation? Were donors fully informed, or were they deceived or coerced into donating?”

The probe comes in the wake of 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.

Mediheal Group of Hospitals, 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.

“Did Mediheal conduct due diligence in verifying the relationships between donors and recipients, especially where foreign nationals were involved?” Nyikal posed.

“Were these matches medically appropriate, and did they meet ethical standards?”

Following growing pressure from medical professionals and civil society, the Ministry of Health in December 2023 constituted a fact-finding mission to audit transplant activities.

The multidisciplinary team included transplant surgeons, ethicists, the Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services (KBTTS), the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), and the Kenya Renal Association.

Their mandate was to assess the clinical, legal, and ethical compliance of transplant practices at the hospital.

The matter escalated further on April 17, 2025, when Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale suspended all transplant services at Mediheal hospitals nationwide and appointed an Independent Expert Committee to audit all kidney transplants conducted there over the past five years.

He also suspended two senior officials from the Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services—Dr Maurice Wakwabubi and Dr Everlyne Chege—to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigations.

The National Assembly inquiry, running parallel to the executive-led audit, will also examine the effectiveness of regulatory bodies such as the Kenya Tissue and Transplant Authority, the Ministry of Health, and the KMPDC.