By Leon Mutwiri
Tension is rising in Nanyuki and the larger Laikipia region following reports of an approved controversial plan to host a quarantine and treatment facility for people exposed to the Ebola virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The proposed facility, reportedly linked to a U.S.-Kenya agreement and set to operate near the Laikipia Air Base, has sparked sharp public backlash, with residents, health workers, legal groups, and political leaders questioning the risks to public safety and the government’s transparency.
While the Ministry of Health insists that the isolation center is not a bad idea and stresses the importance of enhancing the country’s preparedness, Public Health PS Mary Muthoni, during an earlier health event, stated,
“When there is a discussion around having an isolation center in Kenya, it is not a bad thing because the emergence and re-emergence of diseases will keep recurring from time to time, and as a country we must be ready.”
However, residents from Nanyuki are holding opposing views and are calling the move a government failure to protect its citizens from possible dangers.
“It is like having your father say he cannot keep a hungry lion in his house, but instead tells you, his son, to keep it in your own house,” explained Bet Omondi, a resident from Nanyuki.
He argues that the United States of America has more preparedness in terms of equipment to quarantine and even treat exposed individuals from Congo, the country of origin, instead of giving the heavy responsibility to Kenya, whose health system is less established compared to the former.
As Kenya’s Ministry of Health insists that the country has not recorded any Ebola cases while also heightening preparedness measures, many locals fear that bringing exposed patients into the country could place communities at risk amid an already worrying regional outbreak in Eastern Congo.
The uproar has since escalated into court action, with the High Court temporarily suspending the plan pending further hearings.
The events have sparked residents of Nanyuki to plan demonstrations scheduled for Saturday, 29th May, and Tuesday, 2nd June, threatening a total shutdown of activities in the town in protest against the government’s move.
Edited by John Majau
