According to media reports from East African countries, Kenya's Criminal Investigation Bureau (DCI) began reporting illegal organ trafficking on Wednesday as a clinic that strongly denied illegal organ trafficking.
What do we know about the organ trafficking investigation in Kenya?
The investigation, led by DCI's Elite Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU), under the supervision of Mohamed Amin, is the day after Kenya's health authorities ordered the suspension of all kidney transplant operations at the Mediheal Group clinic until further notice.
“We are here to ensure justice on this issue, and we guarantee the same victims,” said Amin, cited by Kenya. Stars every day.
This was last Thursday, following a halt at the clinic at the heart of the allegations, followed by the Mediheel Hospital and Fertility Centre in the western city of Eldoret, which staged a press conference on Wednesday, where the hospital refused to commit fraud and committed to working with authorities.
“We are clean, our service is clean,” declared the legal representative of the group cited by the Kenyan outlet. Ynewsdigital. “We are inviting the government to audit us. Patients are ready to testify.”
What is the Kenya organ trafficking scandal?
The Saga exploded last week in the wake of a investigation by DW in collaboration with German public broadcaster ZDF. Der Spiegel News Magazine revealed an international network of organ donors and recipients coordinated by criminal brokers.
Kidney donors included young Kenyans who were vulnerable for money, but also sellers who flew from countries including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, while hopeless recipients paying hundreds of thousands of dollars have been identified in Israel and Germany.
German transplantation laws prohibit the purchase of organs regardless of where the transplant occurs.
In Kenya, DCI has issued public appeal for all information, but the Parliamentary Health Committee, chaired by MP James Nikal, has conducted its own political investigation into the situation surrounding organ transplants.
“This is an issue that violates the core of human dignity and medical ethics,” asked Nikal.
Nairobi, a Mediheel group that also operates the facility in the capital, claims that the charges are unfounded and promises full transparency.
“All records are available and all procedures have been documented,” the attorney said. “If there is doubt, we want to clear it.
Editor: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
