MPs launch probe into kidney transplants on foreign nationals in Eldoret hospitals
The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Health demanded full disclosure of all transplants, including names, nationality, and contacts of recipients and donors. Records showed that St. Luke’s had performed 34 transplants.
Members of Parliament are investigating malpractice claims in kidney transplant services in Eldoret hospitals turned their focus on Thursday to St. Luke’s Orthopaedic and Trauma Hospital and Oak Tree Hospital, questioning their role in surgeries carried out on foreign patients.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Health in Eldoret, the administrators of the two facilities admitted that several foreigners, mainly from Somalia, had undergone transplants at their hospitals.
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The patients, they said, were registered and financed through the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Endebess MP Robert Pukose pressed St. Luke’s officials to confirm if foreigners had been among their patients.
“Among the patients you’ve done kidney transplants, do we have foreigners?” he asked.
“Yes. Five patients were from Somalia,” responded Dr Silvia Nikita, a medical officer at St. Luke’s.
The hospitals explained that Oak Tree Medical Centre handled the pairing of donors and recipients.
“The role of identification and pairing of potential donors and recipients lies with Oak Tree Centre, for kidney and chronic Diseases, with whom we have a memorandum of understanding. Most of the cases involved blood relatives,” Dr Nikita said.
MPs, however, raised doubts about whether the hospitals could verify if the donors were truly related or if local donors were being passed off as Somalis.
“We are not new to the fact that there has been a lot of talk about kidney selling,” Seme MP James Nyikal said. “We want assurance that what you are doing here follows national guidelines.”
The committee demanded full disclosure of all transplants, including names, nationality, and contacts of recipients and donors. Records showed that St. Luke’s had performed 34 transplants.
Pressed further, the hospitals admitted that some patients had faced complications.
“There were one or two instances of rejection after surgery, some bleeding that required patients to return to theatre, and one donor who developed acute kidney injury but recovered after treatment,” said Gabriel Joseph from St. Luke’s. “We have also received information from Oak Tree about a few patients who passed away after surgery.”
The MPs also questioned why St. Luke’s outsourced laboratory services to Oak Tree despite having its own lab.
“I don’t understand why samples for cross-matching are taken to India or South Africa when facilities like Metropolis are available locally,” Ndhiwa MP Martin Owino said.
Concerns were also raised about consent procedures. Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron asked: “Are patients and donors giving consent here at St. Luke’s, or at Oak Tree? And what is the difference between the two consent processes?”
Hospital officials explained that most tests, consent signing, and consultations were handled at Oak Tree because St. Luke’s lacks a resident nephrologist and dialysis unit.
On the issue of foreigners accessing NHIF cover, senior hospital administrator Mary Lelei told the committee that the law allowed temporary residents to use the fund.
“It’s not just Somalis; there was also provision for Chinese nationals who worked on road projects. The Somalis we treated were paid-up members of NHIF,” she said.
While admitting to gaps in follow-up and coordination, hospital administrators maintained they operated within the law.
They said all transplants followed the Health Act 2017, the Human Tissues Act, the Data Protection Act, and ethical principles of autonomy, justice, and consent.
But committee members demanded transparency.
“We don’t come here thinking you are doing something wrong,” Nyeri Town MP Dancun Mathenge told hospital managers. “But when you withhold information, you raise unnecessary suspicion. Give us accurate records of all transplants, the donors, their nationality, and how consent was obtained.”
The hearings continue on Friday, with MPs expected to listen to testimonies from victims and donors whose organs were harvested, as well as from the proprietor and chairman of Mediheal Group of Hospitals.
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