NAIROBI, KENYA — The United States government has issued an official response after the High Court in Nairobi abruptly blocked a highly controversial bilateral agreement to set up a 50-bed foreign Ebola quarantine facility at the Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki.
The emergency conservatory orders, issued late Thursday by High Court Judge Patricia Nyaundi, completely halt the operationalization of the US-linked US Ebola Facility Kenya center and strictly prohibit Kenya from admitting, transferring, or receiving any foreign nationals exposed to or infected with the deadly virus.
The legal challenge was mounted by governance watchdog Katiba Institute, which accused the Ministry of Health and the Attorney General of entering into a secretive “offshore containment deal” without parliamentary approval or public participation.The US Strategy: “Keep Ebola Off Our Shores”Defending the containment protocol during a high-profile briefing, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that Washington’s priority remains shielding its homeland.
“We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” Secretary Rubio stated, highlighting a major policy shift from the 2014 outbreak when infected US medical workers were repatriated to American soil for treatment.Under the disputed arrangement, the US government pledged $13.5 million (approx. Ksh 1.7 Billion) to boost Kenya’s healthcare infrastructure.
In exchange, US citizens, health workers, and military personnel exposed to the rare Bundibugyo Ebola strain in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda would be flown directly to Nanyuki for asymptomatic monitoring. According to US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) briefs, any patient who later developed symptoms would then be air-evacuated to advanced tertiary facilities in Europe rather than returning to America.
Over 30 commissioned officers from the US Public Health Service had already been deployed from Washington and were en route to staff the Nanyuki base before the court order froze the mission.Sovereignty, Safety, and the Biosafety GapThe proposed “offshore quarantine hub” triggered massive national outrage from local medical experts and civil society. In its court filings,
Katiba Institute argued that the deal severely threatens the health rights of Kenyan citizens, warning that the country lacks the highly specialized Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facilities required to handle dangerous, untreatable pathogens like the Bundibugyo strain.“The impugned arrangement is being undertaken in a manner that is not transparent and is devoid of constitutional accountability or full disclosure of its health, environmental, and security implications,” Katiba Institute stated in its petition.
Concurrently, the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) issued a fierce 48-hour ultimatum demanding the immediate publication of the full diplomatic agreement, threatening widespread industrial strike action across public hospitals if the Ministry of Health fails to comply.The global health community is watching the legal standoff closely as the WHO reports that suspected cases in the region have surged past 1,000, resulting in 246 confirmed deaths. Justice Nyaundi directed that the matter be mentioned for further inter-partes directives on June 2, 2026.Log on to newsportal.co.ke for instant border screening data, official statements from the Ministry of Health, and deep geopolitical breakdowns! 🚨🇰🇪🌍