How State looked the other way as kidney smuggling cartel thrived

Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret where doctors successfully saved the life of an 8 old girl who was suffering from kedney. 16 January 2022. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]. Even before Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale ordered the immediate suspension of kidney treatment at the embattled Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre on Thursday, its main branch in Eldoret had already been non-operational for over a year. The hospital, which has been at the centre of shocking organ trafficking allegations, has essentially been a ghost facility since February 2024, the Sunday Standard has established. Since 2019, however, the hospital -founded in 2005 by former Kesses MP Dr Swarup Mishra-has been embroiled in a series of organ trafficking controversies. Questions are mounting over why the government has yet to take decisive action against the hospital and its directors, despite multiple allegations of suspicious organ smuggling. At the height of the trafficking suspicions in 2020, Mishra was serving as vice-chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Health and was known for his generosity, frequently hosting prominent figures in Kenyan politics at his constituency. Amidst the controversy, Mishra was appointed chairman of the Kenya BioVax Institute (KBI) Board in November last year-even though, by then, the Ministry of Health had already established that there were malpractices at the Eldoret branch. KBI is mandated to manufacture, package and commercialize specialised health products and technologies, including vaccines, therapeutics and other biomedical innovations. Sources yesterday questioned how the founder of a hospital implicated in serious allegations-such as illegal kidney harvesting and transplants-ended up chairing the board of a key government institute. Clerics have criticised the government's decision to suspend the hospital's founder and launch a probe into the facility only after years of complaints-despite previously failing to initiate any investigations. Bishop Christopher Ruto of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Eldoret Diocese, questioned why security agencies, including the National Intelligence Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, had not acted earlier, despite the allegations having been raised years ago. "It is shocking that people were coming from foreign countries to take away the kidneys of our sons and daughters, and yet nothing was done about it," he said on Friday-the same day President William Ruto suspended Mishra as chairman of KBI. The cleric said it was shocking that the government was acting swiftly after the illegal organ trade was uncovered yet it had the capacity to investigate and take action, but instead was offering the suspects responsibilities in the health sector. His Catholic Church counterpart Bishop Dominic Kimengich questioned the country's policies on safeguarding Kenyans from predators. He blamed the rising cases of kidney sales by young people on poor government policies that have left many Kenyans desperate while protecting a few. "We don't have proper policies which will enable our people irrespective of economic status, to prosper and continue with their lives. When taxation is punitive, people go to extremes. We are asking those charged with management of the country to look into this issue critically," Kimengich said. In January 2020, Mishra-then serving his first term as MP for Kesses-threatened to resign if social media attacks against the Mediheal Group of Hospitals continued. Although the criticism persisted into 2021, Mishra did not follow through on his resignation and was later cleared to run for a second term in the 2022 general election. He vehemently denied allegations that Mediheal was involved in a kidney smuggling racket, dismissing the widespread claims as unfounded. By the time Mishra was publicly defending the facility in 2020, Mediheal had already come under scrutiny. In November 2019, the hospital sparked controversy after announcing the appointment of Prem Kumar Gokul as its Vice President. Gokul, according to health experts and critics of the hospital's operations, had allegedly been linked to organ smuggling scams in several countries. On January 17, 2020, Mishra-then an ally of President William Ruto, who was serving as Deputy President at the time-came out strongly, denouncing the accusations as malicious and politically motivated. He claimed the social media criticism against him and the hospital were orchestrated by local politicians in a scheme to tarnish his name with an intention of unseating him in the 2022 general elections. According to Mishra, the social media attacks were aimed at blackmailing him to offer some money to bloggers. Once a thriving medical facility offering high-end services and attracting affluent and corporate clients, Mediheal now stands a shadow of its former self. On Good Friday, for instance, the hospital-located off Nandi Road in Eldoret-was eerily deserted. Its parking lot held only a single, dust-covered ambulance. An unsettling silence hung over the once-bustling reception area. It wasn't until the third floor that any signs of life emerged: three female patients sat quietly, waiting for Pallavi Mishra, who still operates a fertility clinic in one of the rooms. Their quiet presence was the only reminder of the activity that once defined the facility. A boda boda rider who often parks opposite the visibly inoperative facility says the number of clients began declining in late 2022. By 2023, as the hospital downscaled its operations, the numbers dropped even further. Among the services halted by the management was the admission of patients, he observed.

How State looked the other way as kidney smuggling cartel thrived

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