Kenya stops developing US-run Ebola website amid public outcry; $13.5m US funding is criticised as masking well being dangers.
Revealed On 23 Jun 2026
Kenya has ordered a halt to preparations for a United States-run Ebola quarantine facility, the well being minister has advised a court docket after being held in contempt for ignoring a earlier stop-work order.
The announcement on Tuesday comes amid robust opposition to the plan in Kenya. Lethal protests have taken place because the authorities confirmed plans to construct the ability for potential US residents evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), which is grappling with a serious Ebola outbreak.
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The quarantine facility was being constructed at Laikipia airbase, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, with some 50 isolation beds. It was anticipated to be managed by US medical employees.
“I’ve directed the speedy and full cessation of any meant development, website preparation, or associated actions regarding the Laikipia airbase facility pending the listening to and willpower of the substantive petition or till additional orders of this court docket,” Well being Minister Aden Duale stated.
The minister spoke in court docket a day after he was held in contempt for failing to reply to a number of orders in late Could and early June to halt actions.
Rights teams had petitioned the court docket, saying the ability was being developed secretly and with out session. Kenyan medical doctors and medical professionals have been particularly outspoken concerning the proposed Nanyuki website, arguing it might threaten the nation’s already fragile well being system.
Three folks have been killed in unrest close to the ability in Laikipia.
Civilians and healthcare employees have expressed anger over the prospect of importing the virus and criticised the Kenyan authorities’s acceptance of a $13.5m Ebola preparedness contribution from the US as whitewashing the deal. To this point, the nation has not recorded a case of Ebola.
The Ebola outbreak was confirmed in DR Congo in Could. It has led to 1,048 confirmed instances and a minimum of 267 deaths as of June 22, according to the Well being Ministry. At the least 75 healthcare employees in DRC have contracted the virus, with 17 deaths recorded.
Uganda – which neighbours Kenya – has reported 20 confirmed instances, together with two deaths.
