Kenya Government Ordered to Reveal Details on Ebola Facility

Kenya’s High Court Orders Government to Disclose Details of Proposed Ebola Quarantine Facility

A court order has been issued in Kenya requiring the government to disclose details of a proposed United States-linked Ebola quarantine facility. The order comes after hundreds of people protested against the planned site in the central town of Nanyuki on Monday, resulting in two fatalities due to gunshot wounds.

The High Court extended conservatory orders stopping the establishment of any Ebola quarantine, isolation, or treatment facility in Kenya and barred the admission of individuals exposed to the virus. The court also ordered the cabinet secretary for health to make public the agreement details, health and biosafety assessments, regulatory approvals, and operational protocols.

The government had previously announced plans to set up a 50-bed unit at an air force base in Laikipia County to serve Americans who have been exposed to the virus but are still asymptomatic. The facility is part of a broader effort to strengthen emergency response systems, according to Health Minister Aden Duale.

However, critics argue that Kenya’s health infrastructure is not equipped to handle the potential dangers posed by the facility. A rights group, the Katiba Institute, had brought a lawsuit arguing that the plan could endanger public health and has been joined by the Law Society of Kenya and the main doctors’ union in opposing the plan.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda are currently battling an outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, which has killed 48 people and been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. The Kenyan government has defended the facility, stating that it is part of a national preparedness plan and a long-running health partnership with Washington.

President William Ruto has also defended the facility, saying it is not unusual and similar to other facilities already established in Kenya. He cited decades of cooperation with Washington on health programmes including HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19 as justification for the facility’s establishment.

Source: Al Jazeera