Hundreds Protest Outside Kenya’s Ebola Quarantine Facility For U.S. Citizens

Hundreds of youths in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki marched to the gates of Laikipia Air Base on Monday, chanting anti-Ebola slogans in protest against the establishment of a quarantine facility intended to house American citizens exposed to the Ebola virus during the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The demonstration came two days after Kenya’s High Court suspended the facility’s establishment and barred the arrival of any foreign patients pending the hearing of a legal challenge filed by the Law Society of Kenya and a constitutional watchdog group.

Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu told journalists that he was opposed to the establishment of the facility, saying “this will expose our people to Ebola,” as local leaders joined the chorus of opposition to a plan that has drawn fierce criticism from doctors, lawyers and civil society groups since it was announced.

Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale sought to ease public concerns on Sunday, saying the quarantine centre was for “everyone” and not exclusively for U.S. nationals, though critics argued the facility had been designed and funded specifically to serve Americans evacuated from the DRC.

Despite the court order, Kenya’s government has continued pushing ahead with the facility, which Trump administration officials described as “state-of-the-art” and designed to provide Americans with high-quality care without the risks of a lengthy transatlantic flight while infected or exposed.

The U.S. government has committed $13.5m towards Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts as part of the arrangement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, with the case set to return to court on June 2 for further hearing.