A section of victims of the alleged organ trafficking in Eldoret have come out to claim that their lives are in danger following their recent exposé of Mediheal Hospital.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, April 22, the victims claimed that suspicious individuals have been trailing them since they went public against the facility.
According to one of the victims, he was recently forced to jump over a fence and hide inside a thicket after noticing a group of unknown people trailing him.
The victims further claimed that despite several attempts to report the matter to the nearest police station, the security officers had yet to take any action.
"After I exposed all these things, people have since been following me, and I feel so scared. I have been reporting, but no one wants to listen to my report," claimed an elderly woman whose son reportedly lost his kidney to the organ traffickers.
"I saw the person approaching me while I was heading home from the shop. When I turned and spotted him, he pretended to be going back to the shop," narrated another victim.
Their concerns come hours after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) announced the commencement of a probe into the alleged organ trafficking by Mediheal Group of Hospitals.
According to the investigative agency, the probe was being carried out by the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) of the DCI, with Mediheal Hospital implicated in the trafficking of human organs, which are harvested at the hospital's Fertility and Transplant Centre in Eldoret.
"Whereas several such cases have been reported at various police stations and DCI offices across the North Rift region, TOCU takes over to harmonise all reports and statements previously recorded," the detectives noted.
While announcing the commencement of the probe, the DCI officers urged Kenyans, including victims with information about the incident, to record their statements with the Head of TOCU at the offices held at DCI Headquarters located along Kiambu Road.
The probe by DCI detectives also comes against the backdrop of another investigation by the National Assembly’s Committee on Health, which said it would also look into allegations of organ harvesting and malpractice at Mediheal Hospital.
The committee on Tuesday noon revealed that it had begun an 80-day probe into the allegations, which the legislators claimed raised serious concerns over breaches of professional ethics in kidney transplant procedures at the facility.
Seme Member of Parliament, James Nyikal, who chairs the Committee, said the probe would focus on the broader regulation of organ transplants in the country, with particular attention to the integrity of kidney transplant services, the involvement of foreign nationals, and the emerging issue of potential transplant tourism.
Addressing a press conference at Bunge Towers, Nyikal said the inquiry would examine whether the procedures conducted at Mediheal adhered to Kenya’s legal and ethical standards.
