Activist and Senator for Busia Okiya Okoiti Omtatah has moved to calm growing anxiety among Kenyans living with HIV, insisting that a court case he has filed challenging a US–Kenya health agreement will not interfere with their access to life-saving treatment.
Omtatah also clarified that his High Court petition was widely misunderstood and had caused fear among the patients and their families that the antiretroviral drugs were about to be stopped or delayed, in a statement issued on Monday, January 19.
“I want to reassure every Kenyan living with HIV that your right to treatment is not under threat,” Omtatah said, stressing that his case does not seek to stop funding or halt the supply of HIV medication.
The senator said that the petition was not meant to assail health services, but to ensure that international treaties on health conform with the constitutional requirements of transparency, accountability, and public oversight.
“This is about how healthcare is managed,” he said, adding that proper legal safeguards are meant to protect patients from the misuse or exploitation of health systems, funds and sensitive personal health data.
Omtatah maintained that his misgivings relate to the agreement’s provisions allowing for the transfer and sharing of personal health data belonging to Kenyans, where such a move must be placed before strict constitutional scrutiny.
He added that upholding constitutional norms would favour, and not weaken, the country’s health sector by creating long-term sustainability and public confidence in the sector. He also cited Kenya’s increasing capacity to finance its own health priorities, noting that domestic funding for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes has almost tripled in recent years.
“It means that Kenya has an increasing capacity to maintain essential health services within its own budget without compromising constitutional principles or the rights of patients,” he added.
Omtatah cautioned against what he described as scaremongering, warning that panic-driven narratives risk diverting the public’s eyes away from the accountability issue at hand in public agreements. He said constitutional compliance was key to ensuring a stable and predictable healthcare system for current and future patients.
This explanation comes amid the growing tension after protests held in Nairobi on Friday, January 16, by the HIV advocacy groups led by National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NENPHAK), urging Omtatah to reconsider his stand and warning that further delay in courts might expose patients to treatment disruptions.
Advocates have voiced particular concerns in light of ongoing global funding slashes under the administration of US President Donald Trump to programmes such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief programme, known as PEPFAR, and the US Agency for International Development, known as USAID.
The tussle has its roots in a December 11 ruling by High Court Judge Chacha Mwita, which temporarily barred the government from implementing parts of a $2.5 billion, five-year US-Kenya health agreement signed on December 4.
The court blocked sections of the deal over clauses that would allow the sharing of sensitive personal health data of Kenyans.
He has maintained, as the case drags on in court, that his move is not meant to jeopardize the care of patients but essentially to protect them through the court process.