Kenya's president defends planned US-backed Ebola quarantine facility

Kenyan President William Ruto defended a planned U.S.-backed Ebola quarantine facility at a military air base in central Kenya, saying it was part of a wider national preparedness plan and a long-running health partnership with Washington.

Last week, Kenya approved a U.S. request to establish a facility at a military air base in central Kenya for Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola.

Residents and local leaders in Nanyuki, near the base, held a protest on Monday against the planned facility, saying they feared it could expose the community to Ebola and questioning why Kenya should host a quarantine centre for U.S. citizens. The protest followed growing public criticism of the arrangement and legal action seeking to halt the project.

Speaking for the first time about the facility, Ruto said it was not unusual and was similar to others already established in Kenya.

"The facility that is at Laikipia Air Base is not a facility different from all the other facilities that we have across Kenya," Ruto told reporters in northern Kenya late on Monday, urging Kenyans not to doubt the government's preparedness.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda are battling the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in an outbreak that has so far killed 48 people and been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO. The outbreak is outpacing the global response, which got off to a late start.

COURT ORDERS TEMPORARY SUSPENSION

Ruto said he approved the facility after U.S. President Donald Trump asked Kenya to support it, citing decades of cooperation with Washington on health programmes including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and COVID-19.

The president said Kenya had prepared isolation, surveillance and treatment facilities in 23 counties, adding the facility would serve Kenyans as well as foreign partners, including Americans, if needed.

Ruto dismissed criticism of the plan, saying Kenya had a duty to prepare for any potential Ebola cases, including among Kenyans living or serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A court last week temporarily suspended the plan after a lawsuit argued the site could endanger public health. Ruto did not acknowledge the existence of the court order.

A U.S. military C-130 transport plane flew into Nanyuki as recently as Friday afternoon, according to the flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

Two Nanyuki residents also reported seeing military aircraft flying towards the base over the weekend, though Reuters was unable to confirm if they were U.S. aircraft.

Kenya has tightened screening at land and air borders and is screening about 3,000 people daily, Ruto said, adding that no Ebola cases had been detected in the country.

"We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing," he said.

-Humphrey Malalo/Reuters