The Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK) has moved to court challenging the governance and oversight of the landmark Ksh 200 billion health deal between Kenya and the United States.
In a press statement released on Wednesday, December 10,2025, the federation argues that consumers, as primary beneficiaries and sources of health data, must have a seat at the partnership's table.
COFEK's statement raises concerns over a section of the Memorandum, which it says lacks clarity and should be defined or removed to prevent interpretations that could undermine sovereignty and privacy.
The five-year framework, signed on Thursday, December 4, 2025, makes Kenya the first African country to sign a government-to-government health agreement with the United States.
It is designed to strengthen Kenya's health programs through advanced technologies and improve the sustainability of health systems.
Addressing privacy concerns during the briefing, officials from both countries emphasized that the US would only access aggregated data, avoiding the collection of any personal identifiers.
According to the government, existing protections are sufficient to stop data from being misused. COFEK, however, insists that transparency cannot be compromised.
"Consumers must be fully informed about which private actors will participate in the programme- pharmaceutical giants, laboratories, technology and surveillance firms, cloud-storage providers, etc.," the federation stated.
The organization also warns that Kenya risks ceding strategic control of its health systems if pharmaceuticals and digital infrastructure remain externally controlled.
"Kenya should cooperate boldly but safeguard fiercely: partnership must not translate into surrender of sovereignty, consumer rights, or control of national health data," COFEK emphasized.
The federation's legal challenge hinges on constitutional provisions including Article 46 on consumer protection and Articles 10 and 232 on public participation.
It also cites the Data Protection Act and Article 31 on privacy.
Importantly, the Ksh 200billion is direct government assistance, not a loan, aimed at reducing Kenya's reliance on traditional donor models.
COFEK's court petition seeks to ensure decision-making involving Kenyan health data remains public, auditable, and jointly supervised with consumer representation.
