Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale was found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring a High Court order that halted the construction of a 50‑bed Ebola quarantine centre at a military base in Nanyuki.
The court ruling followed last month’s injunction that stopped the build until a rights group’s case could be heard. Duale was ordered to cease construction, but he allowed the work to continue, prompting the judge to sentence him on Tuesday.
The centre is intended for U.S. citizens suspected of contracting Ebola amid the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The plan sparked angry protests in Nanyuki, 140km north of Nairobi, where police clashed with demonstrators and three people were killed, including a 17‑year‑old schoolboy who was said to have been shot in the head.
The Katiba Institute, a rights group, warned that the arrangement posed “grave and imminent risks” to public health and filed a petition in May to stop construction. Health officials insisted they had not flouted the court order, claiming ongoing work was carried out solely by the Kenyan government to protect Kenyans from Ebola.
Lady Justice Patricia Nyaundi highlighted that Duale knew the construction had to stop but continued it. She said the court had not invited ingenuity but rather commanded obedience.
President William Ruto defended the site, saying he received a request from the United States and that refusing would be “inhuman.” He urged Kenyans not to politicise the serious issue of Ebola and to avoid “reckless” talk about it.
The United States plans to contribute $13.5m (£10.7m) in aid for Kenya’s Ebola preparedness, part of a larger $112m commitment to the regional response. Kenya has yet to record an Ebola case, but the Democratic Republic of Congo has over 1,000 confirmed cases and Uganda has 20, most imported from the Congo.
Medical unions in Kenya question why the country was chosen to host a quarantine facility for exposed American citizens, and the KMPDU stated it would not sit back while Kenya becomes a containment colony for a deadly pathogen that it did not discover.
