On 23rd May 2023, the court finally directed that the parties in Petition E063 of 2021 proceed to highlighting their legal arguments on 15th June 2023. This is a Petition by KELIN against the Ministry of Health asking the court to direct it to account for the loss of funds received from the Global Alliance for Vaccines Immunization (GAVI) intended to support the immunization of children under the Kenya Expanded Programme of Immunisation (KEPI).
The case came up for a mention to confirm filing of submissions by the parties to take further directions for hearing of the parties’ arguments. However, the Ministry of Health, through its legal representative the Attorney General did not attend court. KELIN drew the attention of the court that the Attorney General had on previous occasions failed to comply with court directions on filing of responses and submissions and asked that directions on highlighting of arguments be made. The court agreed with KELIN and highlighting of submissions is now scheduled for 15th June 2023 at 11:00 am at the Milimani Law Courts.
KELIN and other civil society partners requested information on the misappropriation of the funds but these requests were not responded to in accordance with the law under Article 35 of the Constitution and the Access to Information Act, 2016.[1] The Petitioner seeks various orders geared towards fostering accountability in the utilisation of public finds within the Ministry of Health.
This determination of this petition shall be a critical first step towards holding the government, through the Ministry of Health, accountable in the use of funds intended to provide essential health services to the public. KELIN has previously highlighted[2] that corruption in the health sector has become endemic, and currently undermines the realization of the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
To contribute to the discussions on this forum, follow KELIN on our social media platforms: Twitter: @KELINkenya using the hashtag: #RightToInfoKe #justice2health
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kelinkenya
For more information, contact:
Nyokabi Njogu
Advocate for the Petitioner
Kuwinda Lane, off Lang’ata Road, Karen C
P.O. Box 112 – 00202 KNH Nairobi
Tel: +254 790 111 578
[1] See https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/audit/pa/Audit%20report%20Kenya%20-%20May%202016.pdf.
[2] https://www.kelinkenya.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Open-Letter-on-Corruption-in-Health-Sector_Delivered-copy_21092020.pdf
