A 23-year-old man is threatening to move to court to challenge a dismissal by his former employer, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) over his HIV status.
According to his lawyer Timothy Wafula, the man was laid off in 2021 ‘unfairly’ after the Recruit Training School in Eldoret conducted HIV tests without his client’s knowledge.
The lawyer argues that KDF’s actions are discriminatory and a violation of the man’s rights in regard to the Constitution.
“It is standard practice to establish contact before filing the case, which is what we have done through the demand letter. We have given him all options available as we discuss his issue but we shall for sure be seeking punitive damages for testing him without consent, compulsory testing, discrimination, violation based on the fact that they dismissed him due to his positive HIV status,” Wafula told the Nation in a telephone interview on Thursday.
He added: “ the public disclosure of his HIV status and the lost opportunity considering that the was officially recruited as a general duty recruit as his calling letter indicates was platoon number 58 apart from being dispatched to Simba Division houses.”
Lobby groups among them six civil society organisations also weighed in on the issue, terming it an infringement of the rights of people living with HIV.
The groups include; the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and Aids (Kelin), Good Health Community Programmes, M4M PLHIV Network, Nextgen Lawyers, ICJ Kenya and Pamoja TB Group.
The groups questioned the move further noting that the man had been dismissed despite having undergone the same tests prior to his enrolment in the college.
“We strongly condemn these actions of the KDF training school that violated the rights of the young recruit. These actions further heighten stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV in Kenya,” they said.
“Article 27 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination based on health status. In this case, it was apparent that through prior medical testing, the young recruit was physically fit for service.”
They also refer to the HIV and Aids Prevention and Control Act (Hapca) 2007 which prohibits compulsory HIV testing as a precondition to or for the continued enjoyment of employment.
The KDF recruit was reportedly summoned out from a customary morning parade and dismissed from training without being provided with any specific reason or accorded an opportunity for due process.
He later learnt that his dismissal was occasioned by his HIV-positive status.
