Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said he will not take responsibility for criminality involved in drafting the initial report on organ transplants, stating that he has already suspended the officers responsible in order to facilitate a transparent process.

Duale was expected to present a report on the inquiry into alleged malpractice and ethical breaches in kidney transplant services at Mediheal Group of Hospitals to the National Assembly Health Committee yesterday, but he said he currently has no report, and has since constituted a new team to look into the matter.

He argued that he was not in charge of the Health docket when the report was written.

“We take note that you were not there, but we know that the office was there. The person holding the office now is you, and where we need people who have gone, that decision can be made at that time. But the principle that offices exist in perpetuity is important,” said Health Committee Chairman, Seme MP James Nyikal.

“You will give us the details of who is in the team, those who dissented and why, and importantly, those who said there were orders from above to sign the altered report that the Ministry has disowned,” Nyikal added.

But Duale insisted that the initial report by the committee constituted in 2023 to investigate the circumstances surrounding the transplant was not only compromised, lacked signatures, but was also never formally submitted to the Ministry of Health for consideration and action.

While the initial team completed its deliberations, Duale said the report produced was not endorsed unanimously due to significant dissenting views among the members.

Some, he added, were acting on ‘orders from above’, and as a result, the report was deemed non-binding and without legal or administrative standing.

“From where I sit, that report is not legal, and the questions related to it can only be directed not to me, but to the people who were at the helm of that committee at the time. I agree government exists in perpetuity, but this does not apply where there is a crime or where an error has been committed. It cannot be carried over to the next officeholder,” Duale said.

“The information I have is that the whole team agreed on the report, but when it was written, two members said it was not the report they had agreed on as a team and refused to sign.

‘‘The moment I came in, the next thing that happened, and I don’t want to take responsibility for a criminal act, because perpetuity does not include criminality was that they decided to keep the report and hide it, and not formally submit it,” the CS explained.

The MPs insisted that there are serious concerns about the commercialisation of organ donation and transplantation, especially the exploitation of vulnerable members of society.

But Duale was firm that the initial report must be expunged from Parliament’s records.

“The people with dissenting voices said they were told and instructed from above that they must sign this report. So the whole thing is public knowledge,” he added.

In April, Duale constituted the Independent Investigative Committee on Organ Transplant Services (IICOTS), which is expected to submit its final report on July 22.

The CS said among the allegations raised was that foreign kidney recipients had received donations at Mediheal Hospital.

He, however, explained that the hospital is fully licensed, and that current investigations are only targeting the criminal aspects of organ transplants that were reported.

Outside of the investigations into criminal activities, he said the committee will also audit all organ transplants in the country including governance, clinical practices, ethical and legal compliance, and patient safety standards at Mediheal — in addition to making actionable recommendations to strengthen transplant services.

“We have no problem with Mediheal, but we have a concern about ethics and safety. It is public knowledge that innocent Kenyans were used to donate organs, and we will get to the bottom of this matter. I want to commit to this committee that the matter must be dealt with. The information I have is that it’s a huge scandal, and the people and institutions involved must take responsibility,” Duale said.

He added: “Currently, Mediheal has gone to court. I have no court order stopping the committee from doing this investigative work, but they have gone to court.”

The CS said the ministry has developed bills aimed at providing comprehensive legal structure for ethical governance, quality assurance, safety protocols, access and coordination of transplant and transfusion services.

It is also drafting clinical guidelines and standards for transplantation, which are currently pending stakeholder validation and formal launch, designed to address ethical conduct, clinical procedures and facility standards in alignment with international best practices.