A businessman has filed an appeal against a “tyrant” and unconstitutional directive.
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A Kenyan court on Tuesday, December 14, suspended a government decision prohibiting people who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from accessing certain public buildings as well as certain popular places such as national parks, bars and restaurants. The government announced last month that from December 21, it would be compulsory to present a vaccination certificate, in particular to access certain public services, such as hospitals, schools, tax offices and immigration offices. A judge has temporarily suspended this decision, pending the consideration of an appeal filed by a businessman calling the directive “tyrannical” and flagrant violation of the Constitution.
High Court suspends state directive on compulsory Covid jabhttps: //t.co/lrY0oG5eHy pic.twitter.com/d1bpMhZaYB
– NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) December 14, 2021
Some organizations, including the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), have found this directive discriminatory and called on the government to withdraw this full vaccination obligation, which also applies to visitors from Europe. “If the government has an obligation to protect its population against serious threats to public health, the measures must be reasonable and proportionate”HRW said in a statement (link in English). The NGO stressed that there were not enough stocks of vaccines for all adults before the planned effective date.
Kenya has only fully immunized 3.2 million people, or 12% of the adult population, according to official figures, while the government had set a target of 27 million by the end of 2022. The Minister of Health Health, Mutahi Kagwe, defended the move, saying it was the government’s duty to protect those vaccinated from exposure to infection. “This is even more essential with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Experts have warned that it is more infectious than previous forms of the virus.”Mutahi Kagwe said in a statement.
Kenya has recorded a total of 256,484 cases of Covid-19 contamination, including 5 349 deaths.