Kenya’s President William Ruto has defended the opening of an Ebola quarantine centre for US nationals after a court halted the plan. His defence of the move comes as security forces teargassed protesters who feared the deadly virus could spread in the East African nation.
The US-built facility at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base was due to open last week according to US officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is battling a major Ebola outbreak.
CliqMetro understands that the centre about 200 kilometres from the capital Nairobi reportedly have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US medical staff.
A High Court extended a temporary halt to the plan on Tuesday, according to rights group Katiba Institute, which filed a petition last week claiming it was being established unilaterally and in secret. The court said the government had seven days to “disclose all agreements” relating to the facility.
Protests broke out near the facility on Monday amid anger at the US using Kenyan soil and bringing Ebola patients to the country. The protests were met with tear gas from police.
In a post on X on Tuesday, President Ruto said the proposed US facility “will be there to serve the people of Kenya and to serve our friends, including the Americans”.
“The quarantine facility being established at Laikipia Air Base with the support of the United States is neither unique nor exceptional, but part of a broader national preparedness system.
It is one of 23 such centres under Kenya’s disease preparedness framework, alongside facilities at Kenyatta National Hospital (Nairobi), the National Police Service Hospital (Nairobi), Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (Eldoret), Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (Nairobi/Kiambu), and Alupe Hospital (Busia), among others,” Ruto said.
Kenya has recorded no case of Ebola despite widespread testing of arrivals but neighbouring Uganda has registered 11 cases including one death.
A small group of protesters gathered in central Nairobi on Tuesday, wearing white protective gear and carrying a coffin emblazoned with “Ebola” and placards reading: “Reject Ebola in Kenya”.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said over 1,000 suspected cases of Ebola, and about 250 deaths have been recorded in DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15.