• The group claims ten MPs wrote a letter to the US House of Representatives and Senate cautioning against reauthorization of the funding in 2023 on moral grounds.
• MPs reportedly said the "funding is supporting so-called family planning and reproductive health principles and practices, including abortion".
Image: FILE
Fifty groups and organizations working on HIV and human rights in Kenya have written a protest letter to Parliament calling out a section of MPs for allegedly misinforming the US government over the utilization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-PEPFAR.
In the letter dated August 23 and addressed to Speaker of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, the group claims ten MPs wrote a letter to the US House of Representatives and Senate cautioning against reauthorization of the funding in 2023 on moral grounds.
The MPs reportedly wrote the letter on June 6, 2023, saying the "funding is supporting so-called family planning and reproductive health principles and practices, including abortion, that violate our core beliefs concerning life, family, and religion".
The rights groups termed the claims as "treacherous" and expressed concern that MPs are involved in a scheme to spread misinformation about the impact, utility and focus areas of the funds in Kenya.
"Their action may result in PEPFAR funding being discontinued in Kenya which would jeopardize the lives of over 55 million Kenyans who benefit from HIV programmes supported by PEPFAR as well as more than 1.6 million people living with HIV in Kenya," they said.
PEPFAR is the US government’s global effort to combat HIV and the largest global health programme devoted to a single disease.
It is credited with saving millions of lives and helping to change the trajectory of the global HIV epidemic.
The funding was started in 2003 and has over the years been modified and extended thrice with funding for the third circle in Kenya in the 2023 financial year being over $347 million (Sh50.2 billion).
Congress will later in the year consider renewal of funding for a fourth time.
The rights groups said without the funding, millions of lives would be at risk for lacking lifesaving HIV drugs that were previously beyond reach.
PEPFAR funds antiretroviral treatment, voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention for men, caring for orphans and vulnerable children; HIV testing and counselling (HTC), provision of healthcare workforce as well as HIV Comprehensive Care Clinics.
"Mr. Speaker, it is apparent that without PEPFAR, Kenya will have a major funding gap for these programmes. Further, none of these funding areas violates “our core beliefs concerning life, family and religion” as alleged by our Members of Parliament in their letter dated June 6, 2023," the rights defenders said.
They were apprehensive that the MPs' "baseless claims" to their US counterparts could jeopardise the reauthorization of PEPFAR funding and derail the fight against HIV and AIDS in Kenya.
They said MPs have the means to verify the focus areas of PEPFAR funding in Kenya but instead chose to spread misinformation to the US House of Representatives and Senate.
"Mr Speaker, in the exercise of our constitutional rights, we call upon your office to urgently clarify whether the Members of Parliament of Kenya who authored the letter dated June 6, 2023, did so to communicate the position of the National Assembly on the matter to the U.S. Counterparts."
The groups called on the National Assembly to ascertain the purpose and programmes funded by PEPFAR in Kenya and provide information to their US counterparts and clarify to Kenyan Parliament's position on the suspension of the funding.
The groups include the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya(WOFAK), Hope Trans Initiative, The Health NGOs Network and Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS(KELIN).
Others are Kuza Trust, We Top for Health, Africa Media Trust and Beyond Initiative for Social Concern.