{"id":139461,"date":"2026-04-30T11:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/court-blocks-withdrawal-of-petition-challenging-kenya-us-health-data-deal\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:03:16","slug":"court-blocks-withdrawal-of-petition-challenging-kenya-us-health-data-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/court-blocks-withdrawal-of-petition-challenging-kenya-us-health-data-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Court blocks withdrawal of petition challenging Kenya-US health data deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI,Kenya Apr 30 \u2013 The High Court has declined an application to withdraw a constitutional petition challenging the controversial Health Data Sharing Agreement between Kenya and the United States, holding that public interest litigation cannot be terminated by private consent where unresolved constitutional questions remain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The application had been filed by the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK), which sought to discontinue Constitutional Petition No. E809 of 2025 after reaching a consent agreement with the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Petitioner\u2026 wishes not to proceed with the matter and the same should be withdrawn without costs,\u201dCOFEK stated.<\/p>\n

However, Justice Patricia Nyaundi upheld a preliminary objection raised by Katiba Institute, effectively blocking the withdrawal and allowing the case to proceed.<\/p>\n

The petition challenges the constitutionality of the health data-sharing agreement, raising concerns over the right to privacy, data protection, and the lack of adequate public participation.<\/p>\n

Katiba Institute, through advocate Joshua Malidzo, opposed the withdrawal arguing that constitutional petitions brought in the public interest transcend the interests of the original petitioner and cannot be privately settled where alleged constitutional violations persist.<\/p>\n

Malidzo submitted that such litigation is not the exclusive preserve of the petitioner, noting that any member of the public may pursue the matter where questions of constitutional accountability arise.<\/p>\n

He further argued that courts bear the ultimate responsibility of safeguarding the Constitution and cannot permit the private compromise of alleged violations affecting the public at large.<\/p>\n

In her ruling, Justice Nyaundi agreed, stating that courts must retain control over constitutional petitions instituted in the public interest. She held that a notice of withdrawal may be rejected where substantive constitutional issues remain unresolved.<\/p>\n

The judge also noted that Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah had already indicated his intention to continue prosecuting the matter alongside his separate Petition No. E816 of 2025.<\/p>\n

As a result, the two petitions will proceed and are scheduled for hearing on May 25, 2026, before Justice Nyaundi.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI,Kenya Apr 30 \u2013 The High Court has declined an application to withdraw a constitutional petition challenging the controversial Health Data Sharing Agreement between Kenya and the United States, holding that public interest litigation cannot be terminated by private consent where unresolved constitutional questions remain. The application had been filed by the Consumer Federation of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}