Conrad Maloba, the lead counsel for Mediheal Hospital, said several Kenyan donors have volunteered to appear before two teams probing allegations of organ trade at the facility.
Speaking on Tuesday, Maloba said the donors are prepared to confirm that they did not receive any payments in exchange for donating their kidneys.
Under Kenya’s Health Act, the sale of human organs is strictly prohibited. The only legal exception allows for the reimbursement of reasonable costs, such as transport and medical expenses.
Maloba emphasized that Mediheal Hospital is committed to transparency and is prepared to open its patient records to public scrutiny to prove it acted within the law.
Two independent investigations are underway. One is being led by the National Assembly’s Health Committee, while the other involves a taskforce appointed by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale. Both teams are examining claims that the hospital operated a kidney-for-cash scheme involving both local and international patients.
Maloba said the hospital will present both the patients allegedly involved and their corresponding medical records to investigators.
“We’re asking the government to come and audit us. The patients are there, we have the records, and they are willing to testify,” he told reporters.
The investigations are currently examining between 372 and 400 transplant cases. Maloba confirmed that all the files are available for review.
“The audit is a scientific process, and the answers will be guided by scientific precision. We’re not hiding anything,” he noted.
Mediheal has maintained that it followed proper legal procedures in all transplants and has welcomed the scrutiny as an opportunity to clear its name.
Maloba also revealed that only about 10 complaints were raised out of the 372 kidney transplants performed at the hospital.
“With respect to the transplant process, I can confirm we have records. We achieved a 99.9 per cent success rate,” he said.
However, Maloba acknowledged that Kenya lacks comprehensive regulations to govern solid organ transplants. While the Health Act of 2017 offers a legal framework, the regulations needed to implement that section remain pending.
“It’s true. Certain regulations are not in place, but that is not on us. That is on the legislature,” he said.
He added that the ongoing audit is likely to produce key recommendations on managing patient-donor relationships in future organ transplants.
