BriefingCONFIDENCE MODERATEOctober 2026

The Kenya and UK Trade Agreement After the High Court Ruling

The court found flaws in how the agreement reached Parliament, left it standing, and noted that the text Parliament published was incomplete.

CONFIDENCE: MODERATE. Built on press reporting of the ruling by Justice Roselyne Aburili. The judgment itself and the full agreement text are not in hand, so what the court ordered, and on which grounds, is provisional.

Bottom line

Justice Roselyne Aburili found flaws in the process around the Kenya and UK trade agreement but did not invalidate it, so the agreement, in force since 22 March 2021, continues to bind Kenya. One reported flaw is that Parliament uploaded an incomplete version of a text of more than 600 pages. A ruling that finds defects and still lets a treaty stand tells future litigants that process errors alone may not undo an agreement.

The parties and the instrument

The instrument is a bilateral trade agreement between Kenya and the United Kingdom, in force since 22 March 2021. It was challenged on the process by which it was approved. Reports of the ruling do not support a claim that the court ordered fresh public participation, which some summaries suggest, and this brief does not repeat it.

The constitutional and treaty backdrop

Article 2 of the Constitution makes ratified treaties part of Kenyan law. The Treaty Making and Ratification Act, 2012 requires parliamentary approval, and Article 118 requires public participation in the work of Parliament. The reported flaws sit at the point where these meet: what Parliament was given, and what the public could see.

What the record shows

The court identified procedural flaws and declined to invalidate the agreement.
The version of the text that Parliament uploaded was incomplete, against a document of more than 600 pages.
The agreement has operated for more than five years, which weighs against undoing it.

The power reading

The practical result favours continuity for both governments. For Kenyan citizens and businesses the lesson is about leverage: a court will hear a process challenge, but remedies are narrow once a deal is operating.

What to watch

An appeal by the petitioners or a request for orders on the publication of the full text.
The full judgment, to confirm the grounds.
Whether Parliament publishes the complete 600 page text.

Sources

Kenya and UK trade deal ruling, Nation, 8 August 2026.
Constitution of Kenya, 2010, Articles 2 and 118.
Treaty Making and Ratification Act, 2012, Laws of Kenya.

Corrections

None to date.