Man to Pay Sh850,000 for Disclosing Friend's Alleged HIV Status in WhatsApp Group

The HIV and Aids Tribunal has ordered a man to pay Sh850,000 in damages for disclosing another person's HIV status on a political WhatsApp group. 

The Tribunal also prohibited the man from further divulging, discriminating, stigmatizing, or harassing the person. The Tribunal found the man's actions violated the provisions of the HIV and Aids Prevention and Control Act (HAPCA) by unlawfully disclosing the person's status to third parties without their consent. The Tribunal noted that the person's wife left their matrimonial bed, and people in their local church avoided sitting next to them after learning of their HIV status. The Tribunal also ordered the respondent to pay for the person's counseling costs.

The individuals involved were both part of a political WhatsApp group for a party's team in the Western region. On July 3rd 2023, one of them posted a comment in the group that differed from the other's opinion on who would win the Member of Parliament position in a certain constituency. As a result, the other individual publicly posted a comment that accused his friend of having HIV. This caused the friend to be humiliated and feel degraded.

The person privately messaged the other, asking him to stop making false allegations about his HIV status in political WhatsApp groups but the other was unapologetic. The individual known as Mr PMM has argued that he should be allowed to express his opinions freely in the social groups that he participates in. He claims that he has faced various difficulties, both social and psychological, as a direct result of comments made by his friend. Mr PMM has even sought counseling to cope with these challenges. 

He has tried to reason with the offending party through private messages on WhatsApp, but to no avail. The tribunal assigned to this case had previously established that a person's HIV status is a private matter that should not be disclosed without their consent, as outlined in Section 22 of HAPCA. It does not matter whether the disclosure was intentional or not, or whether the HIV status was real or perceived.