Ruto Fires Swarup Mishra From Govt Job & Picks Replacement

President William Ruto has terminated the appointment of former Kesses Member of Parliament Swarup Mishra as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Kenya Biovax Institute Limited.

The Head of State in a Gazette notice dated July 4, 2025, announced the revocation of Mishra's appointment with immediate effect, and at the same time appointed Dr Charles Githinji to replace him.

Dr Githinji will serve for a period of three years. The development comes months after Mishra was suspended from the position.

“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 6 (1) (a) of the State Corporations Act, as read together with section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint— CHARLES GITHINJI (DR.) to be the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Kenya Biovax Institute Limited, for a period of three (3) years, with effect from the 4th July, 2025,” the notice reads, adding “The appointment of *Swarup Ranjan Mishra (Dr.) is revoked.” 

At the time, Mishra was suspended pending the outcome of investigations into serious allegations of unethical and illegal activities involving kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre in Eldoret. The hospital was founded by Dr Mishra.

Mishra was appointed to the role by the Head of State on November 22, 2024, through a Gazette notice.

The former lawmaker, on May 17, 2023, joined the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party under President Ruto. The medical doctor-cum-businessman dumped the former ruling Jubilee Party under the Azimio la Umoja coalition and mobilised a section of professionals and businessmen from the Asian community to join the party known for its 'Yellow Wave'.

The hospital was linked to an international exposé that placed Kenya at the heart of a global organ trafficking ring, revealing that recipients had been paying up to $200,000 (around Ksh25.9 million) for kidney transplants. The investigation uncovered how the syndicate preyed on both ends of desperation—young people seeking quick cash and older individuals in urgent need of transplants.

According to DW, the network behind the operation spanned multiple countries, recruiting local donors through paid referrals. In some cases, donors were even flown in from countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.

The report revealed that vulnerable Kenyans, many in dire financial straits, were coerced into selling their kidneys for as little as Ksh294,000. Most of the organ recipients were from Germany and Israel.

Worse still, many donors were misled into signing documents they couldn’t read or understand. After surgery, several were left with serious health complications, highlighting the physical and emotional toll of the illegal trade.

In response to the exposé, a warning was issued from the Transplantation Society, which alerted the Ministry of Health to a spike in kidney transplants for Israeli nationals at Mediheal Hospital, raising suspicions of a potential organ trafficking ring exploiting weak regulatory oversight.

A multidisciplinary team was deployed in December 2023 to review the hospital’s transplant procedures. The audit uncovered serious issues, including the use of foreign donors with unclear connections to recipients, unauthorised HLA testing conducted in India, and a lack of required documentation to prove donor-recipient relationships.

Additionally, transplants were performed on high-risk individuals, some with prostate cancer or poor donor matches, without proper oversight. The facility also lacked a formal committee to approve transplants and failed to report outcomes.

Following this, Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale suspended the kidney transplant services at Mediheal Hospital and took action against two top Ministry of Health officials: the active Head of Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services, Maurice Wakwabubi, and MoH technical lead, Dr. Everlyne Chege.