Attorney General Dorcas Oduor has urged the Court of Appeal to lift a High Court order suspending the implementation of a multi-billion-dollar health partnership between Kenya and the United States, warning that the suspension threatens critical health services across the country.
In an urgent application, Oduor argued that delaying the Cooperation Framework could deny millions of Kenyans life-saving healthcare benefits that may never be recoverable. The framework, signed on December 4, 2025, commits $2.5 billion from the U.S. government to support Kenya’s health sector over five years.
The High Court halted the deal after Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) separately filed cases questioning its legality, citing concerns over parliamentary approval and potential data privacy breaches.
“The upshot of the orders of the superior court is that the government of Kenya has been prevented from taking any steps to alleviate the immediate healthcare needs of millions of its citizens… noting the dynamic nature of human health, the benefits to be accrued may never be recovered at all,” the Attorney General stated in the application.
Oduor further argued that the High Court failed to consider Kenya’s foreign policy responsibilities and the competitive international environment where nations vie for financial and technical assistance. She warned that the suspension could undermine funding and support for HIV, TB, and malaria programs, disrupt human resources for health, and weaken supply chains and service delivery systems.
Health Principal Secretary Dr. Ouma Oluga also emphasized the urgent public interest in the matter, noting that 1.4 million Kenyans are currently denied critical treatment because of the suspension. He described the delay as causing “disproportionate hardship to the people of Kenya in favour of a few vested private interests.”
“That the learned judge failed to consider the polycentric nature of foreign relations in arriving at his decision thereby issuing orders that may adversely affect Kenya’s strategic national interests in a competitive international environment,” Dr. Oluga added.
Opposing the application, Senator Omtatah argued that the High Court’s orders are purely conservatory and do not determine the constitutionality of the framework. He insisted the suspension merely preserves the status quo and does not prevent the government from defending the case on its merits.
“They do not determine rights, do not finally pronounce on the constitutionality of the impugned Health Cooperation Framework, and do not prevent the applicants from defending the petition on the merits,” Omtatah said.
He warned that lifting the suspension prematurely could cause irreversible harm if the deal is later found unconstitutional, including unlawful financial commitments, mismanagement of public funds, and mishandling of sensitive health data.
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