Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale yesterday shared details of how powerful individuals working in the Ministry of Health tampered with the findings of a committee that had been formed to inquire into organ transplant in 2023.

Duale told MPs how two individuals working for the Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services (KBTTS) altered and tampered with the final report of the committee that had been tasked with investigating the alleged organ transplant at Mediheal hospital following a letter from Transplantation Society -a non-governmental organization that alleged that foreigners had received kidney donations at the facility.

Duale told MPs who sit in the committee on Health chaired by Seme MP James Nyikal, that the interference saw some of the members of the committee decline to sign their final report which was to be adopted by the ministry.

Transplant specialists

He said his ministry had formed a multi-disciplinary fact-finding team comprising transplant specialists, bioethicists, representatives from KBBTS, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board (KMPDB), senior ministry officials and academic experts.

Said Duale: “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.”

He added: “While the initial team completed its deliberations, the report produced was not endorsed unanimously due to significant dissenting views among the team members. 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.”

Following the move, Duale told the MPs that he suspended the officers responsible at KBTTS to facilitate a transparent process and also formed a new Independent Investigative Committee on Organ Transplant Services (IICOTS) to carry out its investigations.

The team he said is expected to hand over its report on or before July 22 when it concludes its investigations into the matter. Duale said that there is need for all those responsible for committing such atrocities to be brought to book.

He said: “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.”

Abdi added: “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.”

Suspicious activity

The report of the committee that investigated Mediheal Hospital and which was rejected, while exonerating the hospital from any wrongdoing, stated that although there was suspicious activity for trafficking, there was no sufficient evidence to back this.

For instance, the committee said there was a common name Yusuf which was noted in the foreign files and listed as next of kin in the files sampled but said there was need to ascertain the said status and investigate why the name was listed and the relationship with the foreign recipients and donors.

The hospital (Mediheal), between 2018 to November 2023, the report show had done 372 cases out of which between November 2018 to February 2020 there were 80 transplants, between September 2020 and July 2021 there were 70 transplants, between February 2023 to November 2023 there were 72 case while the transplants done to persons over 60 years were 70.

The report says that consent to donate was available in all the sampled files and signed by an advocate and translated to the language of the donor adding that the facility had adapted new technologies as 99 percent of their transplants were conducted through laparoscopically with indication prior to the transplants.

Father it says that all the health workers both local and foreign had the necessary registration and licenses required for them to provide healthcare services in the country as per the recognized regulatory bodies. The committee however said reasons were not given as to why foreign recipients came to Kenya to seek medical treatment and thus recommended that Kenya should protect vulnerable donors who may be coerced or paid to give away a kidney. Reads the report: “Mediheal has operated on quite a number of Israel patients with all foreign donors that is Non-Israel’s and the fact-finding team were not able to pinpoint the particular patient being referred to the transplantation Society letter unless more details/identifiers of the recipient and the donor of the kidney were to be shared.

Of note all foreign surgeries on both donor and recipient were cash transactions.”