Anger in Kenya against the U.S. over Ebola. The plan by Donald Trump’s administration to build a quarantine center to house Americans who have been exposed to the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda has outraged many Kenyans, who took to the streets to protest a measure they believe endangers the country’s public health.
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At least two people died on Monday at the hands of the police during a demonstration that gathered hundreds of people in the town of Nanyuki, near the Laikipia airbase, where in recent days personnel and medical supplies have arrived and work has begun to open the unit with a planned capacity of 50 beds. To date, Kenya has not recorded any virus infections on its territory.
According to the organizer of the march, Patrick Wahome, the deceased were hit by police gunfire, who admitted to using tear gas but denied knowledge of any deaths occurring.
Kenya’s president, William Ruto, responded to the discontent and on Monday night defended the construction of the Ebola quarantine center. “When President Trump asked the Kenyan government to support them by creating a center at the Laikipia airbase, I agreed because it was a deal and collaboration with friends who have been working with Kenya for 30 or 40 years,” he said.
Friendly governments
President William Ruto defends the construction of the center due to ”30 or 40 years of collaboration with the U.S.”
President Donald Trump’s administration declared last week that it “cannot and will not” allow any case to enter the U.S., unlike the U.S. position during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, when several infected American citizens received treatment on U.S. soil.
Although Ruto assured that the center is part of a broader health collaboration plan with the U.S. and asked citizens for trust (“We are a responsible government – he insisted – we know what we are doing”), he has seen how street outrage has also reached the courts.
Change of position
Although Trump declared he will not allow any case to enter the U.S., in previous crises several infected Americans received treatment on U.S. soil
While last week a judge ordered the temporary suspension of the center’s construction, today a higher court in Kenya demanded that authorities reveal the details of the agreement with the U.S. government to establish the facility.
The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has caused more than 1,100 suspected cases and nearly 250 deaths, mostly in Congo, where the emergency originated, and in Uganda. According to experts, the outbreak declared on May 15 is probably significantly larger and more advanced than official figures suggest, having circulated undetected for many weeks.
To date, all American citizens infected or suspected of having contracted Ebola during this crisis have not set foot on U.S. soil.
No cases on U.S. soil
To date, infected or suspected Americans have been treated in Germany or the Czech Republic
A missionary who was infected while attending patients in Congo was transferred to Germany last month for treatment along with five other people who were exposed. A seventh person was transferred to the Czech Republic.
In his statement yesterday, the Kenyan president hinted that the center would serve, if necessary, Kenyan patients or those of other nationalities and not only Americans, but this point was not confirmed by the U.S. officials in charge of the quarantine center.
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