Kenya defends $13M US-backed Ebola unit after court halt

The Kenyan government says it will continue with a $13 million US-supported Ebola isolation unit at Laikipia Air Base, describing the site as a Kenyan-run preparedness centre. The announcement follows a High Court suspension and protests in which two people died.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale described the Laikipia facility as one of 23 planned isolation centres across the country. He said the site would be overseen by Kenya Defence Forces medical leadership and the base commander, working alongside US specialists. The funding was put at about 1.7 billion Kenyan shillings and was presented as part of wider preparedness support rather than payment for a single unit. Duale said the centres would accept any patient, including Kenyans returning from outbreak areas.

A High Court suspended plans for the roughly 50-bed unit on May 29 after activists filed a petition. On June 2 Justice Patricia Nyaundi extended the halt and ordered the state to disclose within seven days all agreements, approvals and protocols linked to the site. A further hearing is scheduled for June 23. Officials report that US equipment and specialists continued arriving at the base despite the court order.

Public opposition to the site has included street demonstrations. Two people were killed by gunfire during protests in Nanyuki, near the base, according to a protest organiser. Duale blamed what he called “paid up protesters” for the unrest and urged local leaders to act responsibly. Opposition doctors and civil society groups argue the agreement was made without adequate public consultation and raises biosecurity concerns.

Duale cited Sections 35 and 36 of the Public Health Act as the legal basis for actions taken during an epidemic and framed the centres as preparedness measures rather than a response to a local case. He noted Kenya’s ties to the Democratic Republic of Congo, including thousands of Kenyans living and working there and more than 450 Kenyan soldiers on the UN peacekeeping mission, and said sealing borders would abandon those citizens. The World Health Organization declared the Bundibugyo strain outbreak a public health emergency on May 17; that strain has no licensed vaccine.

Kenya has screened more than 72,000 travellers at 26 ports of entry and has detected no Ebola cases domestically, according to government figures. Washington describes its role as shared protection: the United States has pledged more than $162 million to the regional response, and Kenyan officials say about $13 million of that has been earmarked for preparedness activities in Kenya. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will not permit Ebola cases to enter its territory, a stance that differs from 2014 practice when some infected citizens were repatriated to specialised biocontainment units.

On national television Duale stated, “We have no apology to make because we have partnered with the US in the health sector for over 23 years.” The court-ordered disclosure will test how much of the agreement was negotiated publicly. The June 23 hearing is expected to review the approvals and protocols for the Laikipia facility and to determine whether the project can proceed while legal challenges continue.