DW JOINT INVESTIGATION EXPOSES CROSS-BORDER ORGANI TRAFFICKING RING IN KENYA

By Olayiwola Ibrahim // A joint investigation by DW, ZDF, and Der Spiegel has uncovered a transnational criminal syndicate profiting from illegal kidney transplants in Kenya.

The reporting teams traced the network from Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret to a shadowy agency arranging organ transplants for recipients from countries including Germany and Israel.

The months-long investigation combined interviews with donors and whistleblowers, undercover reporting and analysis of hospital practices legal loopholes.

DW’s reporting from Kenya revealed how young men desperate for income were drawn into the trade, misled by brokers and left with lasting health issues.

A former hospital employee confirmed widespread documents falsification and manipulation of vulnerable donors.

DW East Africa Bureau Chief Mariel Müller, reporting on the ground, said the organ trafficking network exploits the vulnerable on both ends the poor, desperate for money, and the sick, hoping for a life-saving organ. Once exposed, the risk is that those behind the network will simply shift operations to another hospital and continue as before.

The investigation exposes a multi-million-dollar industry allegedly protected by individuals with political connections.

It highlights how gaps in Kenyan law and weak oversight have enabled a cross-border organ trafficking operation — one that reaches into Europe and raises serious legal and ethical concerns.

DW reached out to the Kenyan Health Ministry but received no response.

However, according to Kenyan media reports, Health Minister Aden Duale stated he had just received the 2023 report of the Mediheal fact-finding mission and would summon the committee on Monday to discuss what they have established and will close down Mediheal for good if I have to.