Kenyan protesters and police clashed Tuesday as officers fired tear gas at hundreds of people demonstrating against an Ebola quarantine centre being built for US citizens in a tourist town and made several arrests, journalists saw.
The centre at Laikipia Air Base in the town of Nanyuki, under the shadow of Mount Kenya, is set to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is battling a major Ebola outbreak.
Kenya has never recorded a case of Ebola and many oppose the idea of bringing potential carriers of the highly contagious disease into the country. Dozens gathered near the air base, some wearing protective equipment and carrying a coffin with “Ebola” written on it.
Reporters saw several people arrested by police, who also fired tear gas to disperse the growing crowds. “We don’t have that disease in this country… they are bringing a virus into our country,” said Zipporah Wachira, 30. “I’d like to know the reason why they thought our country is a dumping site,” said Priscilla Waimani, 47, wrapped in a Kenyan flag. The centre is due to have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US staff and was nearing completion late last week.
It had already sparked protests on June 1. Rights groups said two people died, though the circumstances of their deaths remain unclear.
Construction of the facility is under a temporary pause order from Kenya’s High Court — although work has continued at the site — and it has been opposed by local politicians in Laikipia.
But the government of President William Ruto has vowed to press ahead, saying it owes Washington for years of aid support. “The American people and government have been partners with us on matters of health for close to 25-30 years,” Ruto said last week. “It would be most unfortunate if on one request by the Americans to set up a facility at their cost, we would refuse. We would look very inhuman.”
Kenya’s health minister has insisted the facility will be for Kenyans as well as Americans, and Washington has pledged $13.5 million to Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts. But protesters insist the US must deal with problems on their own soil.
“We are saying the Americans (are) going to take their Ebola and go back to their country,” Mwangi Wangai, 30, told AFP at the demonstration, dressed in PPE. On Tuesday, the US embassy in Kenya issued a warning for its citizens in Nanyuki over the protests.
Construction of the facility follows a controversial health deal between the two countries last year, in which Kenya agreed to hand over vast amounts of health data to the US in exchange for billions of dollars in aid.
The World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency over the outbreak in the DRC, which has seen 515 confirmed infections, including 91 deaths. Despite fears of spread to neighbouring countries, only Uganda has recorded cases. It has confirmed 19 so far, almost all Congolese nationals who crossed the border.
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