Barrack Muluka faults government over handling of public concerns in Ebola facility plan

 Strategic Communications Advisor, Barrack Muluka, has accused the government of ignoring public concerns and promoting what he described as a growing culture of arrogance and impunity, amid heightened debate over a proposed Ebola preparedness facility in Laikipia County.

Speaking during a radio interview on Thursday, Muluka said the public mood reflects deep frustration, linking it to the controversy surrounding the planned Ebola quarantine and response centre at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki. He argued that sovereignty belongs to citizens and that their views cannot be dismissed by those in authority.

He maintained that leaders cannot rely on legal provisions or their positions in office to override public opinion, insisting that citizen concerns must be respected in national decision-making.

“You cannot tell us that there is a certain Act of Parliament that says that you are a minister, and as a minister, you are going to take certain decisions regardless of what the people are saying, and that you are going to call the voice of the people random noises. These are not random noises,” he outlined.

Muluka also criticised the use of security agencies during demonstrations, saying such actions go against constitutional principles and distort the relationship between the state and the public.

“You will bring out the people's military against the people, you bring out the people's police against the people to tear gas them and to beat them up. That is inversion of power, inversion of constitutional authority, because the people have a right,” he added.

His remarks come as debate intensifies over the proposed Ebola quarantine facility in Laikipia, after Kenya approved a request from the United States to establish a preparedness and quarantine centre at Laikipia Air Base. The facility is intended for Americans exposed to Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

The United States has committed about 13.5 million dollars, about Sh1.7 billion, to support Kenya’s Ebola preparedness under the arrangement.

The project has drawn scrutiny in public debate and in Parliament, where Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale defended the plan. He said the government would not seek public approval for such a health security programme, arguing that it falls under national government responsibility. He also maintained that the facility will strengthen disease surveillance and emergency response capacity.

President William Ruto also defended the agreement, saying he approved it after a request from former United States President Donald Trump and as part of ongoing Kenya–United States cooperation on public health and disease control. He said the facility would improve Kenya’s preparedness and could also serve Kenyans during outbreaks.

The agreement was reached through bilateral discussions between Nairobi and Washington, allowing the United States access to land at the air base while Kenya seeks broader benefits in disease preparedness and emergency response.

Muluka, however, questioned the decision to host such a facility in Kenya, arguing that the United States has stronger medical and technological capacity to manage such risks within its own systems.

“The Government of the United States of America is stating that we will not admit into America anyone who has been exposed to Ebola, and our country is defined by the Americans as the place where we should locate Ebola and deal with it,” he noted.

He further described the current state of the country as one of deep uncertainty and declining public trust, saying Kenya is going through what he termed a “season of anomie”.

“I think if we were to use one word to describe the state of the nation today, we would say anomie. We are in what Wole Soyinka has called the season of anomie, the season when nothing that seems to be right seems to be done,” he stated.

According to him, the country’s challenges are driven by rising impunity and arrogance within leadership, where public opinion is increasingly ignored.

“The government has embraced a spirit of impunity, a spirit of hubris, the great pride that comes before the great fall,” he said, warning that leaders who dismiss public sentiment risk losing legitimacy over time.

He added that governments ultimately remain accountable to the people, from whom their authority is derived.