Kenyan court blocks US-funded Ebola facility plan ahead of Nanyuki protest

Kenyan police said a man died from a gunshot wound during a protest near Laikipia airbase in Nanyuki on 9 June. Reuters reported that a relative identified the deceased as a teenager. The Guardian and BBC both stated that police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had gathered near the proposed site carrying a coffin marked "Ebola" and wearing protective equipment.

A police spokesperson told The Guardian he did not have information about the incident. The Kenya Human Rights Commission posted on X that "hooded police officers fired live bullets and arbitrarily arrested 19 protesters." France 24 reported that violence flared during the demonstration. AllAfrica stated that 19 people were arrested in connection with the protest.

The proposed facility is a 50-bed quarantine centre intended to receive patients from regional Ebola outbreaks. The U.S. government planned to send 30 medical personnel to staff it. A Nairobi court issued a temporary injunction blocking the project last month following a petition by a Kenyan nonprofit.

Last week the court further barred the Kenyan government from proceeding until the case is resolved. The next hearing is scheduled for 23 June.

The protest followed an earlier demonstration in Nanyuki the previous week in which two people were killed. Kenya's president stated that the country owes Washington for years of aid support and said the government would press ahead with the plan. Health officials in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are responding to an outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, which the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern.

There have been no known cases in Kenya.