DCI Deploys Special Unit Against Mediheal Hospital In Organ Trafficking Saga
Multiple reports have been filed at police stations and DCI offices across the North Rift region, prompting the move to centralise and intensify the investigation.
Marvin Chege 
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has announced that it has handed over the high-profile investigation into alleged human organ trafficking at Mediheal Hospital to its elite Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU).
The probe, according to DCI's statement on Tuesday, April 22, centres on claims that organs were illegally harvested at the hospital’s Fertility and Transplant Centre in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
Multiple reports have been filed at police stations and DCI offices across the North Rift region, prompting the move to centralise and intensify the investigation.
TOCU is now set to consolidate all previously recorded reports and statements, conduct fresh interviews with victims, suspects, and potential witnesses, and deploy forensic tools to carry out a thorough and coordinated inquiry.
File image of the Mediheal Hospital Eldoret Town Clinic. /CITIZEN DIGITAL
"Whereas a number of such cases have been reported at various police stations and DCI offices across the North Rift region, TOCU takes over to harmonize all reports and statements previously recorded, record fresh statements from victims, suspects and anyone with relevant information, as well as employ forensic analysis for a painstaking probe," stated the DCI in part.
The DCI is urging anyone with information related to the case to come forward and provide statements at TOCU’s offices, located at DCI Headquarters, Block B, along Kiambu Road in Nairobi.
A Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) is a specialised division within a national or international law enforcement agency tasked with tackling organised crime that crosses borders. These units concentrate on investigating and prosecuting criminal networks involved in illegal activities like drug smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering on a global scale.
The DCI explains the role of TOCU on its website by stating "Our team collaborates internationally to combat transnational criminal networks involved in human trafficking, drug smuggling, and other cross-border offenses. By dismantling these networks, we contribute to global security and justice."
The Mediheal organ trafficking saga is why DCI has called in the TOCU unit. This is in the wake of serious allegations of unethical and illegal activities involving kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre in Eldoret.
Its founder, Dr Swarup Mishra, was suspended by President William Ruto as Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Kenya Biovax Institute Limited on Friday, April 18. The hospital came under intense international scrutiny following a joint investigation by Deutsche Welle, German broadcaster ZDF, and Der Spiegel, which exposed Kenya as a key player in a global organ trafficking ring.
The exposé named Mediheal as the facility where the illegal transplants were allegedly being carried out. According to the investigation, recipients were paying up to $200,000 (approximately Ksh25.9 million) for kidney transplants, with the network stretching from the Eldoret-based hospital to a shadowy agency in Germany that preyed on vulnerable individuals on both ends of the operation.
In one disturbing case, a young Kenyan man was reportedly paid just $4,000 (around Ksh518,120) to donate his kidney under questionable circumstances.
In response to the revelations, the National Assembly Health Committee announced on Tuesday, April 22, that it would open a formal inquiry into the alleged trafficking. The committee, led by Seme MP James Nyikal, aims to release its findings within 80 days.
This comes just days after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale ordered the suspension of kidney transplant services at the facility pending investigations. In the meantime, DCI reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing the matter with the highest level of professionalism, promising swift and fair justice for both victims and those found culpable.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale addressing the media on April 17, 2025 at Afya House, Nairobi. /MINISTRY OF HEALTH
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