Hundreds of youths in Kenya’s central town of Nanyuki on Monday demonstrated against the establishment at the Laikipia Air Base of an Ebola quarantine centre for American citizens exposed to the virus.
Protesters marched to the gates of the air base and set fire to barricades in the streets nearby.
The protests come two days after Kenya’s High Court suspended the establishment of the facility and the arrival of any foreign patients pending the hearing of a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya and a constitutional watchdog.
The two organizations cited Kenya’s fragile health system as the reason why foreign Ebola patients should not be quarantined in the country.
US officials said last Thursday that the United States was planning to send Americans exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them home.
Health Minister Aden Duale said on Sunday the quarantine centre was for “everyone” and not exclusively for US nationals.
But local leaders and residents said they were not consulted and fear risks to the community, saying that many locals work inside the air base and could be exposed.
The US government intends to commit 13.5 million US dollars toward Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Kenya has not recorded Ebola cases, but neighbouring Uganda has reported nine and closed its border with Congo.
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