US Ebola facility in Kenya fuels anger in a country with no cases

The centre at Nanyuki, near the Laikipia military base 190km north of Nairobi, is set to quarantine Americans arriving from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, which is battling a major Ebola outbreak.

The facility will have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US staff. A US diplomatic source said it was nearing completion and currently had no patients.

Hundreds of Kenyans have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against the plan, arguing that the country should not be asked to host people exposed to a disease it has never recorded.

Public anger

"Kenya is not an American colony!" protesters chanted on Tuesday as they carried an Ebola coffin to the health ministry.

"If Ebola is too dangerous for Americans, it's also too dangerous for us," protesters from Nanyuki told RFI.

Two people were killed in central Kenya after police opened fire on Tuesday, Patrick Wahome, one of the organisers of the march, said. A security source also said two people had died but did not specify the cause of death.

There is also anger over what critics see as the neo-colonial nature of the project, with Washington refusing to allow Ebola patients into its own territory while sending them to Kenya. A demonstrator in a protest against the US-backed Ebola quarantine plan to establish a 50-bed facility at a Kenyan air force base, in Nanyuki town, in Laikipia County, Kenya, on 1 June, 2026.

Laikipia is already home to a long-standing British army base that has brought prosperity to the area but has also been linked to incidents of rape and murder involving local women.

"The proposed establishment of the Ebola quarantine hospital in Laikipia is against the Madaraka [self-governance] principle... That is neo-colonialism," Laikipia Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior said in a speech.

Kahura Mundia, deputy chairperson of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, told Citizen TV that allowing Ebola patients to travel beyond the borders of the DRC and Uganda could contribute to spreading the disease further if countries were not properly prepared.

Opposition MP Willis Evans Otieno questioned Kenya's decision to host suspected Ebola cases, saying that "the powers pushing for this arrangement will be the first to restrict our movements" if a case were detected.

Court challenge

A Kenyan court temporarily suspended the plan on 28 May following a complaint by civil society organisation Katiba Institute – a legal advocacy group.

On Tuesday, Kenya's High Court blocked the proposed facility for another three weeks, and ordered the government to disclose its agreement with Washington. 

Judge Patricia Nyaundi barred the government from taking any steps to build or begin operating the facility before the case is resolved.

The judge also ordered the government to disclose all agreements and operating protocols related to the facility within seven days and scheduled the next hearing for 23 June. The protest turned violent in Nanyuki town, in Laikipia County, Kenya, on 1 June, 2026.

Conflicting accounts

The US government says it is continuing to build the facility despite the protests and court rulings.

US military aircraft have continued flying in staff and equipment in recent days, US officials and diplomatic sources said. Data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed at least nine aircraft had arrived since 24 May.

The facility is intended for Americans who have been exposed to the virus but do not have symptoms. US officials said patients who develop symptoms would be transferred to other countries for treatment.

Health Minister Aden Duale told parliament on Wednesday that the centre would go ahead and would serve both Kenyans and Americans, rejecting claims that it would be exclusive.

"Quarantine is not only for Americans. Even Kenyans will be isolated at the facility," Duale said. "Laikipia air base is one of the 23 quarantine isolation centres we are building. And we will not stop it."

Disputed purpose

However, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters the facility would only treat US citizens.

During a state visit to South Africa on Thursday, President William Ruto defended the decision to allow the US to build the centre.

"It would be most unfortunate if on one request by the Americans to set up a facility at their cost, we would refuse, we would look very inhuman," he told a press conference.

The US intends to provide $13.5 million for Kenya's Ebola preparedness efforts.

The outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is centred in eastern Congo and several cases have spread into neighbouring Uganda.

There have been at least 344 confirmed Ebola cases in Congo, including 48 deaths, and 116 suspected cases, according to the World Health Organization. Uganda has recorded at least 15 confirmed cases.

(with newswires)