Court blocks Laikipia Ebola facility as US pledges KSh1.75bn to Kenya
President William Ruto with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after a past press address. PHOTO | COURTESY
Washington’s $13.5 million commitment arrives alongside a legal challenge, a doctors’ ultimatum, and a nation deeply divided over whose health this deal is meant to protect.
By MKT Reporter
The United States has committed $13.5 million toward Kenya’s Ebola preparedness following talks between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President William Ruto, even as Kenya’s High Court moved to temporarily block plans to establish a US-backed Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki.
The financial pledge, announced on Friday by State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, is part of a broader American commitment that already includes $112 million in bilateral assistance to the wider regional Ebola response across East Africa. “The two leaders agreed to maintain close coordination as the situation evolves and to continue leveraging the strong US-Kenya health partnership that has proven essential in addressing public health challenges in Kenya and across East Africa,” Mr. Pigott said.
But the announcement landed into a storm of domestic opposition that neither government had fully anticipated. As part of its response to the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the US government had deployed more than 30 specially trained public health officers to Kenya and backed plans for a quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base to isolate Americans exposed to the virus — with symptomatic patients later to be transferred to treatment facilities in Europe. The arrangement, negotiated without public disclosure, triggered immediate legal and professional pushback.
The High Court temporarily stopped the government from establishing or facilitating any Ebola quarantine, isolation or treatment facility under the arrangement, and also halted the admission, transfer or receipt into Kenya of persons exposed to or infected with Ebola under the disputed diplomatic deal. The orders came after civil rights organisation Katiba Institute filed an urgent petition arguing the arrangement had been negotiated without public participation, parliamentary oversight, or transparency on its terms.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union added its voice forcefully, issuing the government a 48-hour ultimatum to publicly disclose the details of negotiations, warning of nationwide industrial action if the deal proceeded without accountability. “KMPDU is calling out the hypocrisy of the ongoing backdoor negotiations between the Government of Kenya and the United States administration regarding the establishment of an Ebola quarantine and treatment facility at Laikipia Air Base,” said Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah. “We are utterly disgusted by the government’s apparent willingness to trade national biosecurity and the lives of its citizens for foreign aid.”
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale acknowledged the ongoing discussions while seeking to reassure the public. “Protection of Kenyan citizens, frontline health workers and communities remains paramount,” he said, stressing that any international health cooperation would be guided by Kenyan law and biosafety standards. Medical Services Principal Secretary Dr. Ouma Oluga defended Kenya’s capacity, pointing to investments made during the Covid-19 pandemic and noting that more than 55,000 travellers had been screened at entry points, with all ten suspected Ebola cases tested in Kenya returning negative results.
The controversy has dominated Kenya’s leading newspapers and television and radio debate, with critics expressing disbelief that the Ruto government had agreed to a facility widely seen as designed to protect Americans while leaving Kenyans to absorb the risk. One doctor put it plainly: “This is quite paradoxical — keeping America safe while leaving Kenyans at risk of infection.”
The United States has been equally direct about its own priorities. “The United States’ highest priority remains protecting the health and security of the American people by working to prevent the Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores,” the State Department said.
Both statements can be true. What they cannot both be, in the same breath, is a partnership of equals.
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