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22-year-old Amon Kipruto Mely thought that by selling his kidneys he would start a new, better life. Living in a village in western Kenya has been difficult for him after the Covid pandemic. He struggled to find a stable income and moved from one job to the next – at car dealers, construction sites, etc.
Then one day a friend told him about a quick and easy way to win $6,000 (5,300 Euro). “He said selling my kidneys was a big deal,” Amon said. It sounded like a stroke of good fortune, but he led him to a dark network of exploitation, despair and regret.
This report is the result of a multi-month joint investigation conducted by a German media outlet. Der SpiegelZDF, and DW have traced the path of organ sellers and buyers, analyzed documents, spoke with whistleblowers and medical professionals, and discovered an international network ranging from hospitals in Kenya to shadowy institutions that attracted organ beneficiaries from Germany.
Amon Kipplet Millie was introduced to an intermediary who organized the transport to Mediheel Hospital in the city of Eldoret, western Kenya. There, Amon says he was accepted by an Indian doctor who handed him the documents in English, a language he didn't understand.
Syndicates that prey on vulnerability of young and poor people
He was not informed of health risks, he said. “They didn't explain anything to me. The person who took me to point at the people around us and said, “
After the surgery, he was only paid $4,000 in place of the promised $6,000. From there he quickly bought a broken phone and car. Soon after that, his health deteriorated. He became dizzy and weak, and eventually fainted at home. At the hospital, his mother, Leah Mett, is shocked to learn that her son had sold his kidneys. “They make money through young children like Amon,” she said.
The story of Amon appears to be one of many things. Willis Okum, a Nairobi-based organized crime researcher at the African Security Institute, spoke with several young men who said they had sold kidneys in the town of Oyugis, 180 kilometers (112 miles) southwest of Eldoret. “The truth is, this is organized crime,” he said. Okumu estimates that up to 100 young men may have sold kidneys in Oyugisu alone. Many suffer from depression and psychological trauma. “I don't think they'll reach 60,” Okumu added. I'll tackle the problem It was released in January on Enact, a project run by Interpol.
DW spoke to four young men in Oyugisu. They said they sold the kidneys for just $2,000. They spoke about how after surgery at Mediheel Hospital in Eldret, the brokers asked them to recruit new donors for a fee of $400 each.
Donors have become recruiters: chain of exploitation
“There are legal gray areas that this syndicate is exploiting,” Okum explained. “There is no law that prevents you from actually giving your kidneys for money, and you cannot be charged for that,” he said.
what teeth According to the Kenya laworgan donations for relatives or altruistic reasons.
Speaking to DW anonymous state, a former longtime Mediheel Hospital employee revealed that the trading of the transplant began years ago. Initially, the recipients came from Somalia and were donors from Kenya. But then, in 2022, the recipients began coming from Israel, and as of 2024, they came from Germany. Donors of these paying clients fly from countries including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
Sources said the donors were asked to sign a document indicating that they were relatives to recipients they had never met and agreed to kidney removal without being informed of potential health risks. “Because of the language barrier, they just sign,” the former employee said.
Migrating to more profitable markets: Israel and Germany among target countries
He added that since switching from Somali to Israeli and Germans, the business has been booming, with each recipient paying up to $200,000 for their kidneys.
A former hospital employee told DW that an agency called “Medlead” is in charge of acquiring international donors and recipients.
Medlead claims on its website that within 30 days the donor is “promised to be “100% altruistic.” The Facebook page features testimonial videos of people thanking Medlead for getting a new kidney in Eldret, Kenya.
The latest video on the site shows Sabine Fischer-Kugler, a 57-year-old woman from Gunsenhausen, Germany, who has been suffering from kidney disease for 40 years. After the first replacement kidney stopped working, she was desperate to find a second kidney. However, the waiting list for the new kidneys in Germany is long. It can take 8-10 years. In Germany, only the kidneys of deceased people who have expressly agreed to donate organs can be used for transplants, and there are not enough donors for the more than 10,000 people waiting for the kidneys.
The lack of organ donation at home causes fuel despair to search overseas
Sabine Fischer-Kugler is a 24-year-old man from Azerbaijan, she said. The contract claimed he had not been paid, but Fisher Kugler said she paid Medred between $100,000 and $200,000. “Maybe I was a bit selfish because I wanted this kidney, and most importantly, the contract looked ok. But that's clear. The surgery isn't as clean as it looks.”
Under German law, organ payments are illegal and criminals can stand in prison for up to five years.
The man behind Medlead is an Israeli citizen called Robert Shpolanski, according to 2016 Tel Aviv Magistrates Court filedThere is a man called Boris Wolfman, who is accused of performing “numerous illegal kidney transplants” in Sri Lanka, Turkey, the Philippines and Thailand, and is said to have led the criminal network. Wolfman was accused of already involved in illegal transplant activities elsewhere.
“That's a bit shady. You shouldn't pay, but you do.”
Shpolanski denies his relationship with Wolfman. Email to Der SpiegelZDF and DW said Medlead were not involved in finding donors, all donors are 100% altruistic and Medlead has fully complied with the law since the foundations.
The investigators went to undercover agents at the EKA hotel in Eldoret, just 1 km from Mediheel Hospital, to talk to foreign patients awaiting their transplant. Some are visibly frail and travelling with their families. A Russian woman waiting for kidney surgery for her husband said, “No one will give her kidneys for free.” “It's a bit shady. You shouldn't pay, but you're supposed to pay. The story is that it's my old cousin who came to East Africa at the same time as me.” At his age, he said he would not have the opportunity to receive kidneys in Israel.
Back in Nairobi, Dr. Jonathan Walla, director of the Kenya Kidney Association, treated several patients who returned due to post-surgery complications. “There are reports of Israeli patients returning with severe infections, some have basically dead kidneys,” his colleague has issued an alarm to Kenyan authorities about an unethical transplant occurring at Mediheel Hospital.
Million-dollar businesses protected from the “top”
In 2023, Kenya's Ministry of Health appointed an investigation at Mediheel Hospital, finding that donors and recipients are often unrelated. Several high-risk transplants have been performed, including cancer patients and very elderly people. Almost all the steps were paid in cash. The report recommended that “an allegations of organ trafficking must be investigated by the relevant authorities.” Despite these surprising findings, the report was never published and no action was taken.
Local private investigators in Eldoret, who tracked the illegal transplant trade, said at least two other hospitals were also involved. But he said if he investigated these cases, “my life would be in danger.” “There are very powerful people who could be involved.” Is that at the top of government? “Yeah.”
The founder and chairman of Mediheal Group is Swarup Mishra. The native Indian is a former lawmaker and is said to have a good relationship with Kenya's President William Root. Despite sustained organ trafficking, the president appointed chairman of the state-owned Kenya Biobacks Vaccine Institute last November. This is the role of allowing Mishra to represent Kenya as a contact between the World Health Organization and foreign government officials. Mishra did not respond to repeated interview requests and left a list of unanswered questions.
Meanwhile, Amon and others like him struggled to survive with one kidney, their health compromised, and their hopes were crushed.
Update 1:
In response to our report, the Kenya Health Minister ordered audits of Mediheel Hospital and seven other transplant facilities across Kenya.
Maryline Limo, vice president of hospital Mediheal Group, told the Kenyan media that all implanted transplants were legal. That Mediheel is not involved in donor procuring and there is no financial incentive for the donor.
Update 2:
As a result of our report, Kenya Health Minister Aden Duare told reporters on Thursday that kidney transplant services had been suspended at Mediheel Hospital. A new investigation committee has been established to investigate all the kidney transplant services carried out at Mediheal over the past five years, he said.
Update 3:
On April 18, the Kenyan government issued a statement saying that President William Root “is immediately suspended by Dr. Swarup Mishra as chairman of the Kenya Biovax Institute.” The suspension must remain in effect until we hold off the results of an investigation into serious allegations of unethical and illegal activities, including kidney transplant surgery at Mediheel Hospital and Fertility Center in Eldret,” the statement said.
Edited by: Ben Knight
