Kenya: Court authorizes health agreement signed with Washington, 1.4 million patients affected

The Kenyan Court of Appeal, sitting as a three-judge bench, has authorized the implementation of the health cooperation framework signed between Nairobi and the United States on December 4, 2025, pending the outcome of the appeal on the merits. It has lifted the conservatory orders issued by the High Court on December 19, 2025, which had frozen the program, reports Capital FM.

The framework covers the supply of essential medicines and support for healthcare. It targets treatments for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, as well as vaccination. According to the Kenyan government, approximately 1.4 million Kenyans depend on it.

The argument for continuity of care

The Attorney General and the Minister of Health had requested this lifting. They argued that an interruption in treatment risked promoting drug resistance and disrupting vaccination efforts, healthcare teams, and supply chains. The judges concluded that the public interest in maintaining essential services outweighed the risk of allowing the program to continue during the litigation. They also noted that if the appeal were to succeed after the program had been halted, there would no longer be a framework to implement.

The Court specified that it is not ruling on the constitutional question: no declaration of unconstitutionality has been issued against this framework, it emphasized, according to Capital FM. It had already lifted these orders on May 12, 2026, promising to provide its reasons later; this is what it has just done.

Sovereignty, data, and parliamentary oversight

Opposing the State, constitutional activist Okiya Omtatah Okoiti had requested that the court wait for the end of the appeal. He cites the protection of personal data and privacy, public finance regulations, decentralization, and above all, the role of Parliament in approving international agreements that financially commit the country. He believes the text could violate several articles of the Constitution, including articles 31, 43, 201, and 220. The Katiba Institute defends a similar position: constitutional guarantees and parliamentary oversight cannot be set aside in the name of a health emergency.

A debate that extends beyond Kenya

The case exposes a tension experienced by several African capitals: accepting external health funding without compromising control over patient data or bypassing their own Parliament. The Kenyan government claims to have increased its own funding to absorb the decline in foreign aid, without, however, providing figures for this increase, according to Capital FM.

The questions of legality, privacy, public finance, and parliamentary oversight remain unresolved. They will be judged on their merits while the program is already in operation.