Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has filed a petition challenging last week’s reported Sh208 billion health cooperation deal between Kenya and the United States.
The Senator has moved to the High Court under a certificate of urgency, seeking to have the agreement set aside on grounds that it allegedly violates several provisions of the law.
Omtatah is asking the court to issue a mandatory order requiring the government to undertake comprehensive and meaningful public participation before entering into any future health sector agreements of similar scale.
He argues that the reported deal raises constitutional concerns and may affect Kenya’s sovereignty, fiscal independence, and equitable access to health services.
According to the petition, the Framework was reportedly signed in Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Secretary of State and Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary, without prior public participation, parliamentary approval, or disclosure of its terms.
The deal was announced by President William Ruto as a bilateral arrangement committing approximately US$1.6 billion over five years to support Kenya’s health sector, including universal health coverage.
The petition states that details of the negotiation process, the full text of the Framework, and any conditions attached to it have not been made public.
Omtatah has listed Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi, Health CS Aden Duale, National Treasury CS John Mbadi, and Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor as respondents. Katiba Institute is named as an interested party.
The Senator argues that the Constitution requires any treaty or international agreement to be ratified by Parliament under Article 2(6) and the Treaty Making and Ratification Act, 2012.
He asserts in court documents that executing such an agreement without parliamentary ratification is unlawful.
He further claims that attempting to bind the country to a multi-year, multi-billion-shilling framework without parliamentary oversight undermines the sovereignty of the people as exercised through Parliament under Article 94.
The petition states that the negotiation and signing of the Framework were conducted without transparency and without public participation, contrary to Article 10 of the Constitution.
Omtatah also argues that this allegedly violates the Fair Administrative Action Act, 2015, Article 47, and the constitutional right of citizens to access information held by the State.
