MP Beatrice Elachi Claims Youth Are Exploited in Alarming Rise of Spermatozoa Harvesting: "Very Sad"
- MP Beatrice Elachi raised an alarm over a growing market for male reproductive material in Kenya
- Health Committee chair James Nyikal said a new bill will address gaps in laws governing human tissue, organ donation, and related practices
- Concerns also mount over corruption in blood donation services, with calls for urgent reforms to restore public trust
TUKO.co.ke journalist Harry Ivan Mboto has over three years of experience reporting on politics and current affairs in Kenya
A television interview lifted the lid on an alleged hidden reality in Kenya.
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This is after Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi sounded the alarm on a disturbing, largely unregulated trade in male reproductive material among Kenyan youths.
Is there spermatozoa harvesting in Kenya?
Speaking during an interview with TV47, Elachi urged the government to treat the matter with the same seriousness as organ harvesting, arguing that the absence of clear laws leaves citizens vulnerable to exploitation.
“It is not just about the kidneys. It is very sad today, I know we have a very high rate of spermatozoa harvesting from our people. It is very sad. I know even the doctors are sometimes wondering,” she said.
Elachi claimed that in some cases, the material can fetch as much as KSh 100,000, suggesting the existence of a lucrative and shadowy market.
Her remarks sparked fresh calls for tighter regulations from the health sector.
Chair of the Departmental Committee on Health and Seme MP, Dr James Nyikal, acknowledged that Kenya’s legal framework is inadequate when it comes to such practices.
He revealed that a new bill is in the development stage to address a broad range of human tissue and organ issues.
“It is not just kidneys, many organs are transplanted. There are heart, liver and such. But we have a Tissue Act and a Tissue Bill that we are working on now. Even blood is part of a tissue. We are working on that as a committee,” Nyikal explained.
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Govt to regulate tissue transplant in Kenya
He said the proposed legislation would also address matters such as surrogacy and would seek to close loopholes that currently allow questionable activities to go unpunished.
“They are things that have to be done really fast, because they are happening and there is no law. And if there is no law, there is no crime, just a moral basis,” he added.
During the same discussion, Nyikal faced questions over allegations of corruption in blood donation services, with claims that some patients have been denied blood despite having donated in the past.
He admitted there had been problems in the system, which had discouraged many Kenyans from donating.
“There was definitely a problem. And because of what you are saying, people are not willing to donate blood. In this country, blood is not sold. It is normally given voluntarily. People are not much willing, though it is still working,” he said.
Nyikal confirmed that the Ministry of Health had addressed some of the corruption concerns but maintained that stronger laws are still necessary to safeguard public health and ensure ethical medical practices in Kenya.
Is MP’s life at risk after exposing organ harvesting?
In a related development, Nandi Hills MP Bernard Kitur told the National Assembly Health Committee that he feared for his life after revealing the existence of a powerful international organ harvesting syndicate operating in Kenya.
He claimed that his vehicle had been tracked and blocked by a car linked to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, which he believed was meant to intimidate him.
Kitur described the syndicate as targeting vulnerable young men, particularly from single-parent families, by luring them with promises of quick money before harvesting their organs.
The MP called on the government to dismantle the network and provide compensation to survivors.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
