William Ruto has suspended, with immediate effect, Mediheal Founder Dr Swarup Mishra as chair of the Kenya BioVax Institute.
In an official statement, Ruto revealed that the suspension follows a series of investigations over unethical activities involving cases of organ trafficking.
Mishra is at the center of an organ harvesting probe involving his Mediheal Group of Hospitals. An official communique from State House, Nairobi, indicated that Mishra would be out of his designation. Well until the probe into the saga is concluded.
The suspension shall remain in force pending the outcome of investigations into serious allegations of unethical. And illegal activities involving kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre in Eldoret, the statement read in part.
Ruto restated his commitment to upholding integrity in the country’s healthcare system, promising to pursue justice for the victims in the foregoing scandal.
The expose
An exposé by Deutsche Welle, German media ZDF, and ‘Der Spiegel’ international media houses, revealed that Kenya was at the center of an organ trafficking syndicate with recipients paying up to $200,000 (Ksh25.9 million) for an organ transplant.
According to the investigative piece, both the young yearning to make money and the old desperate for a life-saving organ were exploited in the syndicate.
DW revealed that an international network coordinates the operations, finds local donors through paid referrals. And in some cases, the donors are allegedly flown in from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.
Investigations revealed that vulnerable Kenyans, often desperate for money, were exploited to sell their kidneys for as little as Ksh294,000. The recipients of these kidneys mainly came from countries like Germany and Israel.
According to the investigations, the donors were often misled, signing documents they couldn’t understand. And many were left with severe health complications post-surgery.
By BNN