Hundreds of residents in central Kenya gathered on Monday to protest a planned U.S. field hospital that would treat and quarantine Americans exposed to the Ebola virus. Officers from the U.S. Public Health Service were scheduled to operate the facility at Laikipia Air Base, near the city of Nanyuki, before a Kenyan court intervened with a temporary injunction on Friday. Officials have scheduled another hearing on Tuesday as the legal challenge unfolds.
Local residents gathered to voice concerns that the hospital’s proximity to their community could pose significant health risks. “If it is not good for America, why is it good for us? Why does the U.S. only care about itself?” Gibson Maina, a 25-year-old resident, said to The Washington Post. “The moment we get sick people here, how sure are we that we will be able to contain the disease and that we will be able to survive it?”
Demonstrators gathered on the ground while legal proceedings advanced through the courts. Capital News in Kenya reported that the protests were largely peaceful with “localized disruptions.” The Washington Post, however, noted that some demonstrators set fires and clashed with the police during the gathering.
Opposition to the project extends beyond local community organizing into institutional legal action. The Katiba Institute, a Kenyan constitutional rights advocacy group, filed the lawsuit that resulted in the Friday court order halting the hospital’s opening. The United States had initially planned for the facility to open last Friday but deferred its plans pending the legal resolution.
Kenya has not recorded any confirmed Ebola cases during the current global outbreak, which has produced approximately 1,000 cases and killed roughly 200 people, primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Authorities in Kenya have intensified border screening and established additional security measures to prevent the virus from entering the country.
The Law Society of Kenya and local government leaders have publicly joined the Katiba Institute in opposing the facility’s location. Charles Kanjama, who leads the Law Society of Kenya, said that Ebola treatment centers belong in nations actively battling the virus rather than in unaffected regions. “We owe patients human solidarity, but public health requires facilities to be placed near outbreak epicenters,” Kanjama said.
Sarah Korere, a local leader, echoed Kanjama’s argument during an interview. “As residents of Nanyuki, we have said we do not want the Ebola rescue center in Nanyuki,” she said to Capital News. “And it’s not just Nanyuki; we’ve said we do not want it in Laikipia, and not yet Laikipia, we don’t want it in Kenya.”
Kenyan Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale responded to the dispute by emphasizing the need for regulatory compliance. Duale said any international agreement for Ebola treatment facilities operating on Kenyan soil must adhere to domestic laws and established public health protocols. The United States issued a statement last week indicating it had entered into discussions with Kenyan officials following the court’s decision to block the facility’s immediate opening.