Kenya’s plan to require foreign visitors to carry travel health insurance has hit another legal hurdle.
Several Kenyan media outlets, including Kenyans.co.ke, The Standard, The EastAfrican and Eastleigh Voice, report that the High Court in Marsabit has ordered the “temporary suspension of the implementation and enforcement” of the new insurance requirement for foreign nationals staying in Kenya for less than 12 months.
The ruling comes in a case brought by Edow Issack Mohammed and Zhulekha Mohamed Edin, two residents of Marsabit County who are challenging the legality of the scheme introduced by the Ministry of Health. The case is being heard by Justice Francis Rayola Olel at the High Court in Marsabit.
The judge reportedly certified the matter as urgent and halted further implementation of the requirement pending an inter partes hearing scheduled for September 16, 2026.
At this stage, VisasNews has not located the corresponding court order in the public Kenya Law database.
A requirement announced in late July
The case concerns Gazette Notice No. 11492, published by the Kenyan government on July 30, 2026.
As VisasNews reported in early August, the notice set out the minimum coverage levels for the travel health insurance required under Kenyan law for foreign visitors staying in the country for less than 12 months.
The policy was required to provide at least $50,000 in total coverage, including:
- $20,000 for medical expenses;
- $25,000 for emergency medical transportation;
- $5,000 for repatriation of remains in the event of death;
- $1,000 for mental health care;
- $300 for prescription medications.
The $50,000 figure refers to the minimum amount of insurance coverage required, not the price travelers would have to pay for the policy.
On August 7, Kenya’s Ministry of Health provided further details on how the requirement would work. Travelers were expected to be allowed to use insurance purchased in their home country, provided that the policy met Kenya’s minimum coverage requirements.
For travelers required to obtain Kenya’s Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), proof of insurance was to be incorporated into the application process before departure.
Several aspects of the scheme are being challenged
The two petitioners behind the Marsabit case are asking the court to quash Gazette Notice No. 11492 and prohibit its enforcement.
According to details of the petition reported by Kenyan media, they are challenging the way the scheme was developed and argue that the required public participation and administrative framework were inadequate.
They are also questioning the role assigned to immigration authorities in verifying insurance policies through the eTA system and at border entry points. In their view, that responsibility should fall to insurance regulators rather than immigration authorities.
The petitioners have also raised concerns over the handling of additional personal data that would have to be submitted through the eTA system.
Finally, they point to a possible contradiction between the Gazette Notice, which refers to insurers approved and licensed under Kenyan law, and subsequent guidance from the Ministry of Health stating that travelers could use insurance purchased abroad.
Kenya’s mandatory insurance requirement has not been struck down
The decision reported by Kenyan media is, at this stage, a temporary conservatory measure. The court has therefore not permanently struck down either the mandatory health insurance requirement itself or the Gazette Notice published on July 30.
Based on the information currently available, the court has temporarily suspended its implementation and enforcement while the arguments from the various parties are considered.
The authorities named in the case must respond to the petition ahead of the next hearing, scheduled for September 16, 2026.
The suspension comes as the scheme is already facing other legal challenges in Kenya. Kenyan consulting firm Vantage Point Ventures, which says it developed an insurance product for the program before being excluded from it, has also filed a case before the High Court at Milimani. Its petition is supported by the Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) and challenges, among other things, the process used to select insurers and the implementation of the scheme. That case is due back in court on September 29, 2026.
For travelers, the key question now is whether the mandatory insurance requirement will eventually be reinstated in its current form or return with changes after the courts review the case.
VisasNews Take
Kenya’s planned travel health insurance requirement for foreign visitors has not been abandoned, but its implementation is currently suspended by the courts, according to multiple consistent reports from Kenyan media. To date, VisasNews has not located the corresponding court order in Kenya Law’s public databases. Gazette Notice No. 11492 therefore remains legally in place, while its enforcement has been temporarily blocked pending the hearing scheduled for September 16, 2026. VisasNews will continue to monitor the possible publication of the court order, as well as any further announcements from Kenyan authorities regarding the insurance requirement and its integration into the eTA process.
