Kenya’s president defended on Tuesday the opening of an Ebola quarantine centre for US nationals after a court temporarily blocked the proposal and security forces teargassed protesters.
The facility was due to open in the east Africa nation last week, according to US officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is battling a major Ebola outbreak.
The US-built centre at Laikipia Air Base, about 200 kilometres from the capital Nairobi, was set to have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US medical staff.
On Monday, demonstrations broke out near the proposed facility in Nanyuki.
Protesters blocked roads and started fires, according to local media, and security forces used tear gas on the crowds.
“I can assure the people of Kenya that the agreement between the government of Kenya and the American government is for the good of our country and for the partnership,” President William Ruto said on Monday.
“Why would anybody want to politicise, to mobilise negative politics on a matter so serious as a pandemic?” he also said.
“We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing. So, people should relax.”
No cases of Ebola have been reported in Kenya, but neighbouring Uganda has registered several infections, including one death.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Ruto reiterated that the health and safety of Kenyans remain our top priority.
“The facility was neither unique nor exceptional but part of a broader national preparedness system," he said.
“What the American government is doing is working with us in partnership to build the capacity to make sure that if we ever need a facility, it will be there to serve the people of Kenya and our friends, including the Americans,” he said on Monday.
Criticism has grown, however.
The Standard newspaper quoted a protester near the centre as saying, “it would spread the disease further instead of helping to contain it.”
A court temporarily halted the opening last week after the rights group Katiba Institute filed a petition saying the centre was being established unilaterally and in secret.
A hearing is due later on Tuesday.
There have been more than 1,000 suspected cases of Ebola in DRC since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, including nearly 250 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
