NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 – Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to investigate three Court of Appeal judges over their decision to suspend High Court orders blocking the Kenya-US Health Cooperation Framework, while allegedly withholding reasons for the ruling until October 2026.
Omtatah says Kenyans deserve justice that is transparent, reasoned, and accountable, arguing that issuing an immediately enforceable decision without explanation undermines access to justice.
“On 12 May 2026, the Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Kimaru, Munyao, and Okello issued an order staying the High Court conservatory orders. However, the judges did not provide reasons for their decision. Instead, they stated that their reasons would only be delivered on 30 October 2026, nearly five months later,” he said.
He argues that the move effectively frustrated a timely appeal to the Supreme Court and denied Kenyans a fair opportunity to challenge the ruling.
The first-term senator maintains that his concern is not the outcome of the case, but the delay in providing judicial reasons.
“My complaint is not that the judges ruled against me. My complaint is that they adopted a procedure unknown to law, one whose natural and foreseeable consequence was to block immediate and meaningful review by the Supreme Court,” he stated.
Omtatah says his petition asks the Commission to investigate whether the conduct complained of amounts to gross misconduct, breach of the Judicial Service Code of Conduct and Ethics, violation of the constitutional rights to fair hearing and access to justice, and conduct undertaken in bad faith outside the protection of judicial immunity.
In the alternative, he asks whether failure to apply binding Supreme Court precedent may amount to incompetence.
“I wish to emphasise again that these are allegations placed before the Judicial Service Commission for constitutional determination through due process. The judges concerned remain entitled to fairness, due process, and the presumption of regularity unless and until lawful findings are made,” he added.
By withholding the reasons for nearly five months, the Court of Appeal has rendered the right of appeal ineffective while the contested framework continues to be implemented.
According to the petition, the bilateral agreement involves disease surveillance, medical data sharing, and public health infrastructure, including a planned U.S. Ebola isolation center in Kenya.
Omtatah indicated that Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has publicly linked discussions about the Ebola facility to this framework.
The Senator argued that by the time the court delivers its reasons in October, irreversible consequences will have occurred, including the transfer of sensitive health data and the undertaking of major fiscal commitments without parliamentary approval.
The High Court granted conservatory orders on 19 December 2025 stopping implementation of the framework pending full hearing and determination of the constitutional petition.
The court found that the issues raised were serious, arguable, and constitutionally important, and that implementation of the framework risked rendering the case moot before trial.
The government subsequently moved to the Court of Appeal seeking a stay of those conservatory orders.
Omtatah had filed a constitutional petition challenging the Kenya–United States Health Cooperation Framework, reportedly signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 December 2025.
He argues that the framework raises fundamental constitutional concerns touching on Kenya’s sovereignty, the right to privacy of millions of Kenyans, parliamentary oversight, public finance, devolved government, and the regulation of medicines and health products.
“Among other concerns, I questioned whether the framework required parliamentary ratification under the Constitution and the Treaty Making and Ratification Act; whether it permitted the transfer of sensitive health data outside Kenya; whether it imposed massive long-term financial obligations without parliamentary approval; and whether it ceded aspects of Kenya’s sovereign regulatory authority to foreign institutions,” Omtatah said.
