After a case filed by a consumer rights lobby seeking to stop the alleged sharing of Kenyans’ personal data, a Kenyan government court has suspended the implementation of a recently created $2.5 billion health aid deal between the United States. This temporary ruling now prevents any Kenyan authority from taking steps to implement the deal to the extent that it enables or aids in the transfer, sharing, or distribution of medical, epidemiological, or sensitive personal health information.
Ever since this deal with Kenya began to materialize, the Trump administration has signed similar agreements with numerous other African countries, including Lesotho, Rwanda, Uganda, and Liberia, as it completely overhauls its foreign aid program. Kenya’s Health Minister has stated, however, that the ruling would only affect certain parts of the agreement, specifically the parts about data sharing, but not the entire agreement as a whole. He also said that for now, the government will comply with the ruling. This new agreement is one part of a completely revised and remodeled global health aid strategy, where the US is prioritizing direct deals with governments instead of going through aid agencies to manage and distribute funds. Countries in the agreements are required to increase their own health spending, with Kenya covering around $850 million to match the US’s $1.7 billion contribution, as an example. Despite this, many Kenyans have concerns that the deal could allow the US to see their personal medical records, such as their vaccination data, HIV status, tuberculosis treatment history, and more. A group involved in the court case contended that Kenya very well might relinquish the strategic independent oversight of its health systems if the management of pharmaceuticals for emerging diseases and digital systems, such as cloud storage of raw data, is externally governed. Due to this, the High Court of Kenya consented to prevent the execution of the agreement until the entire case is heard.
The Kenyan government has made its case by trying to reassure its citizens over their concerns. The Health Minister made a statement where he emphasized that the framework for the deal was made “with strict adherence to due process, ensuring that Kenya’s sovereignty, data ownership, and intellectual property are fully protected” while the President of Kenya said they’re making sure that Kenya is on top of the data laws so their control over their data doesn’t slip away in the hands of those in Washington. On the American side, however, nobody commented about the data privacy concerns. The fate of the case as a whole will be settled in court in mid-February of next year.
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