NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 26 – Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has now vowed to sue the health care company whose product caused him third degree burns in his feet.
The controversial lawmaker who is still hospitalized after using an electric mat to cure numbness in his feet made the revelation on Tuesday before the National Assembly Health Committee which is probing Total Ceragem Africa Limited that deals with alternative care medicines.
“The company must take responsibility. I have contacted the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, a criminal and civil process is taking place because I do believe that this issue is of fundamental and paramount importance to Kenyans that I will ensure I get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Kuria stressed that Kenyans should not miscomprehend his efforts as he clarified that he is only pursuing the issue so that no other Kenyan endures what befell him.
“I am not using my position so that I can litigate on my own issue. This is an issue of Kenyans who are there and are exposed and do not have the same privilege that I have of being a lawmaker,” he said.
Kuria who purchased the Sh250,000 mat through a friend has been recuperating at the Karen Hospital where he had remained for a month since he commenced treatment for the burns.
During the session, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Vincent Omala was quick to defend products offered by the firm including the electric mat and said no similar complaints had been registered with regards to the product.
“Our success as a brand is largely attributed to the excellence in the efficacy of our products and services to our customers across all the markets that we serve,” he said and added that Kuria might have been misadvised by his friend on how to use the mat.
It also emerged that the company that boasts of being a major contributor in improving the well-being through the application of alternative medicine lacked medically trained personnel and that those mandated to offer instructions had been trained by people based in Korea.
The revelation angered the committee members who accused the company of operating under a trial and error framework.
Omala was hard pressed by the committee members to explain how they have been operating in the country for 14 years now without any regulatory framework.
“It is clear you are not regulated by the Ministry of Health or its agency at all and what this basically means is that you are taking advantage of Kenyans,” the Committee Chairperson and Muranga Woman Representative Sabina Chege charged.
The company whose specialization is on importation and distribution of thermal massage apparatus and thermal mats which are made in South Korea was established in 1998 and has so far spread to 76 countries worldwide. It prides itself in serving 500, 000 clients per day in centres and homes.
In Kenya, the company has opened nine centres which are distributed across Nairobi Woodly area, Ruaka, Muranga, Nakuru, Mombasa, Thika, Eastleigh, Eldoret and Garissa.
Omala who had a difficult time responding to the queries raised by the members noted that the company’s products had been approved by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) but was non-committal to state if they had been licensed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council to operate in the country.
“Ceragem uses trial marketing technique in all distribution centres where customers get to use our products and services with the view of understanding the efficacy which will later inform their decisions to voluntarily purchase for continued use at home or for continued use at the centre,” he said.
The company was also put on the spot to explain the authenticity of their claims that their devices including the mat can help in the treatment of cancer with Tongaren MP Simiyu Eseli accusing the company of being on an expedition to exploit gullible Kenyans who were out to seek fast and quick treatment.
“Cancer patients are always susceptible, and it is just so wrong for this company to claim that they do have solutions for cancer treatment,” he said.
The Ministry of Health through Principal Secretary Susan Mochace is expected to appear before the committee on November 4 to explain the role the ministry is playing in regulating alternative medicine in the country.
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