This archive report was first published on 25 August 2020.
On August 24, 2020, Kenya had reported 32,557 COVID-19 cases, including 554 deaths and 18,895 recoveries, prompting the Education Cabinet Secretary to suspend in-person learning until January 2021.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had ordered schools shut in March 2020, following the country's first COVID-19 case, with plans to reopen in September. However, the increasing number of cases and inadequate measures to protect students led to the extended closure.
Enock Aura, the parent behind the lawsuit, is seeking the court's determination on whether the President can order the closure of learning institutions via a state of the nation address without publishing the directive in the Kenya Gazette or tabling it before the National Assembly for debate and approval.
Aura is also challenging the conversion of learning institutions into COVID-19 quarantine facilities, alleging it was a violation of the Public Health Act. He is further seeking orders to compel the Ministry of Education to reopen schools from September 1, the start date of the next academic term.
