Kenyan Court Suspends U.S. Ebola Quarantine Unit and Orders Disclosure of Deal Terms

Kenya’s High Court temporarily suspended the planned Ebola quarantine unit at Laikipia Air Base last week after the Katiba Institute filed a legal challenge. The court ordered the Kenyan government to disclose the full terms of its agreement with the United States by Tuesday and set the next hearing for June 23.

U.S. Plan called for a 50-bed facility exclusively for American patients exposed to Ebola, to be built at the Kenyan air base in central Kenya. U.S. Citizens to Kenya rather than allow them to enter the United States, following Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that no Ebola patients would be permitted into the country after the World Health Organization reported an outbreak in Congo.

Hundreds of residents marched through the streets of Nanyuki, the nearest town, to protest the facility. Police used tear gas to disperse crowds, and the Kenya Human Rights Commission reported that at least three protesters were shot and killed.

Work on the unit was placed on hold Tuesday because of the protests. troops from Djibouti, Europe, and the United States erecting tents and installing specialized medical equipment.

The official added that the facility could eventually accommodate up to 250 patients and that the State Department was coordinating with several Americans seeking to leave Congo whose exposure status remained undetermined. The Katiba Institute said it would likely return to the High Court this week to seek a contempt order.

“Kenya has independent courts, and they need to be respected,” said Nora Mbagathi, the institute’s executive director.

U.S. ” He said critics were motivated by politics ahead of next year’s presidential election and added that Kenyans could also receive treatment at the facility.