Kenya Protests Kill Two as Trump Ebola Quarantine Plan for Laikipia Air Base Is Suspended

As an Ebola outbreak in central Africa spreads from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda, hundreds of Kenyans protested a plan by the Trump administration to send American citizens exposed to the virus to Kenya rather than bringing them back to the US.

Vox reports that two people were shot and killed during the protests, which targeted a proposed 50-bed quarantine facility at the Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya.

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The plan is on hold after a court ruling in Kenya, with Vox stating that the court extended the suspension to at least June 23 and ordered the Kenyan government to provide details of its arrangement with the Trump administration, including financial agreements and measures to protect Kenyans.

Taipei Times adds that Kenyan President William Ruto defended the opening of an Ebola quarantine center for US nationals after a court halted the plan and security forces teargassed protesters fearing the deadly virus could spread in the country.

Taipei Times also says the US-built facility at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base was set to have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US medical staff, and that the center was about 200km from Nairobi.

In Nairobi, Kenyan President William Ruto defended the facility as part of a broader national preparedness system, writing on X that it was “neither unique nor exceptional but part of a broader national preparedness system,” and adding that it “will be there to serve the people of Kenya and to serve our friends, including the Americans.”

Taipei Times reports that Ruto said: “I can assure the people of Kenya that the agreement between the government of Kenya and the American government is for the good of our country and for the partnership.”

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Al Jazeera reports that Kenya’s High Court ordered the government to disclose details of the proposed United States-linked Ebola quarantine facility, extending conservatory orders stopping the establishment of any Ebola quarantine, isolation or treatment facility in Kenya.

Al Jazeera also says the court barred the admission of individuals exposed to the virus and ordered the cabinet secretary for health to make public the agreement details, health and biosafety assessments, regulatory approvals and operational protocols.

Al Jazeera further reports that senior US officials said the 50-bed unit at an air force base in Laikipia County would serve Americans who have been exposed to the virus but are still asymptomatic.

While Kenya recorded no confirmed Ebola cases, the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was described as involving the Bundibugyo strain, with OkayAfrica stating that the World Health Organization reported 321 confirmed cases, 116 suspected cases, and 48 deaths.

OkayAfrica says Uganda has registered 15 confirmed cases, and that the facility intended for U.S. citizens exposed to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda remains suspended after a court order.

Al Jazeera reports that the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda are battling the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in an outbreak that has so far killed 48 people and been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO.

Al Jazeera also says Kenya’s government has pledged to proceed with plans to set up the facility, with Health Minister Aden Duale saying in a statement on Saturday that it was part of a broader effort to strengthen emergency response systems.

In the same reporting, Al Jazeera quotes Ruto telling reporters in northern Kenya late on Monday that “The facility that is at Laikipia Air Base is not a facility different from all the other facilities that we have across Kenya,” urging Kenyans not to doubt the government’s preparedness.