Kenya Court Halts Opening of U.S. Ebola Quarantine Center

A Kenyan court on Friday temporarily halted the opening of an Ebola quarantine centre for U.S. nationals after a petition was filed by a civil‑rights group.

The facility was scheduled to open on Friday, according to U.S. officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is experiencing a major Ebola outbreak.

The centre was to contain 50 isolation beds and be operated by U.S. medical staff at Laikipia Air Base, approximately 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Nairobi.

“A conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the respondents from establishing… any Ebola exposure, quarantine, isolation or treatment facility in Kenya,” the court order states.

Kenya has been testing arrivals and has not yet reported any Ebola cases from the current outbreak.

The East African country signed a health agreement with the U.S. in December of last year, but the agreement is currently being challenged in court.

Katiba Institute, the Kenyan rights group that filed the petition, argued that the centre was being set up in secrecy and unilaterally, claiming it “raises grave constitutional concerns.”

Meanwhile, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) condemned the move, saying the government was trading “the lives of its citizens for foreign aid.”

Kenyan doctors have threatened industrial action if the negotiations are not made public.

The health ministry has said it is willing to cooperate with other countries, including the U.S., but has not directly addressed questions about the facility.

The Kenyan government has 48 hours to respond to the petition.

A hearing has been scheduled for June 2.

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