Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has clarified that the planned quarantine and isolation facility at the Laikipia Air Base will not be reserved for Americans, insisting it will also serve Kenyan citizens and security personnel as part of the country’s Ebola preparedness strategy.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Saturday, Duale dismissed claims that the facility was being established exclusively for United States nationals, saying Kenya was preparing for a possible outbreak of the Ebola Bundibugyo strain, which currently has no approved vaccine.
“That facility is a military facility. Kenya Defence Forces will use that facility. Other Kenyans will use that facility,” Duale said.
He maintained that the centre forms part of a broader national preparedness plan that includes quarantine, isolation and treatment facilities spread across the country.
“We are putting in place 11 quarantine, isolation and treatment centres across the country,” he said, naming Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, the National Police Service Hospital and Alupe Hospital among facilities involved in the response plan.
The Health CS said Kenya had so far identified 25 counties for enhanced preparedness measures, including 12 classified as high-risk areas because of their vulnerability to cross-border transmission.
“As of today, there is no incident of Ebola in our country, but we are preparing. Diseases like Ebola do not respect borders,” he said.
Duale revealed that the government had already trained more than 1,000 health workers and surveillance teams in the identified counties and activated emergency response systems through the National Public Health Institute in Nairobi.
He said Kenya had tested 16 suspected Ebola cases linked to recent travel from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, with all samples returning negative results.
“Our epidemiologists are on high alert,” he said. “We have tested 16 people for Ebola and all of them are negative.”
The CS defended the government’s partnership with the United States, the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC and other international agencies, saying Kenya’s role as a regional hub required strong cooperation on global health security.
“If there is one country that has contributed between 25 and 35 percent of the health budget since independence, it is the US, among many others,” Duale said.
He disclosed that the US government had pledged Sh1.7 billion towards Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts, including laboratory capacity, health worker support and emergency response systems.
Addressing concerns over who would access the Laikipia facility, Duale said it would be operated by the Kenya Defence Forces medical corps in collaboration with international health personnel.
“It is for everybody,” he said. “Kenyan KDF soldiers do not need permission from anybody to access that facility.”
However, the planned facility has sparked significant political, legal and public opposition.
The High Court on Friday temporarily suspended the establishment of the US-linked Ebola quarantine facility following a petition filed by the Katiba Institute challenging the legality and public health implications of the arrangement.
Justice Patricia Nyaundi issued conservatory orders barring the government from operationalising the facility or admitting Ebola-exposed persons into Kenya pending further hearings.
Leaders from Laikipia County, including Governor Joshua Irungu, Senator John Kinyua and several Members of Parliament, have also rejected the proposal, arguing that residents were not consulted and warning of potential health and reputational risks to the region.
The controversy intensified after reports emerged that the facility would be part of a US-backed regional response plan for Americans exposed to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
While the Kenyan government insists the centre is a national preparedness facility open to Kenyans, critics have continued to demand greater transparency over the agreement and its implementation.