Kenya Health Minister Found Guilty of Contempt After Court Blocked US-Funded Ebola Facility

Kenya's Health Minister Aden Duale was found guilty of contempt of court on Monday for allowing construction of a US-funded Ebola quarantine facility to continue after a court order halted it. The High Court had stopped work last month on the 50-bed isolation centre at a military base in Nanyuki following a May petition by the Katiba Institute.

Lady Justice Patricia Nyaundi ruled that Duale knew the order required all construction to stop yet permitted the project to proceed.

He will be sentenced on Tuesday. The facility is intended for US citizens suspected of contracting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak. Kenya has recorded no cases. The DRC has reported more than 1,000 confirmed cases, and Uganda has recorded 20 cases, most imported from the DRC.

The Congolese city of Bunia lies 780 km from Nanyuki. Protests against the centre in Nanyuki, 140 km north of Nairobi, resulted in three deaths, including 17-year-old schoolboy Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u. Witnesses said he was shot in the head.

Police told the BBC they are awaiting post-mortem results. President William Ruto defended the project, stating he had received a request from the US and that refusal would be inhuman. Washington intends to provide $13.5 million in aid for Kenya's Ebola preparedness as part of a $112 million regional commitment.

The health ministry stated that any ongoing construction was being done solely by the Kenyan government in the national interest. The judge said the government could not avoid compliance by recasting the work and that a court order is a command to be obeyed.