There was massive tampering and interference with the committee report on organ trafficking in the country, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale told Parliament on Thursday.
The CS said unscrupulous individuals from the Ministry of Health fiddled with the findings. The culprits are working at the Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services.
The committee was formed in 2023 to investigate the alleged organ trafficking at the Mediheal Hospital following a complaint by the Transplantation Society.
The Society had alleged that foreign kidney recipients had received the organ at Mediheal Hospital.
But some committee members disagreed with the final outcome of the probe which was to be adopted by the ministry.
“The report of this committee was not signed by all the members because it was doctored. The whole team agreed on a report, but when it came time for signing two members decided to oppose it saying that it was not their report,” Duale told the committee chaired by Seme MP James Nyikal.
“While the initial team completed its deliberations, the report produced was not endorsed unanimously due to significant dissenting views among the team members.”
The multidisciplinary fact-finding team comprised transplant specialists, bioethicists, representatives from KBTTS, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, senior ministry officials and academic experts.
“Furthermore, the report was not formally submitted to the Ministry of Health for consideration or action. As a result, the findings and recommendations from this report are deemed non-binding and without legal or administrative standing,” he added.
The two officers involved in the malpractice have been suspended and that the ministry has formed a new Independent Investigative Committee on Organ Transplant Services to carry out the task.
The new committee will hand over its report in July, when it concludes its investigations into the matter.
“The Ministry of Health awaits a report by the IICOTS by the end of July 2025, at which point we shall act upon its recommendations,” he said.
“The people who committed, facilitated and aided organ trafficking in the country should be looked for. I have an obligation to protect the health of the people.”
The controversial report had exonerated the hospital from any wrongdoing, insisting there was no sufficient evidence to back allegations of trafficking.
The report noted that consent to donate was available in all the sampled files and signed by an advocate and translated into the language of the donor, adding that the facility had adapted new technologies as 99 per cent of their transplants were conducted laparoscopically with indication prior to the transplants.
The report further noted that the health workers, both local and foreign, had the necessary registration and licences required for them to provide healthcare services in the country as per the recognised regulatory bodies.
