Kenya is stepping up its emergency response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, even as no cases have yet been recorded within its borders. At Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi — the country's largest referral facility — medical staff have been trained to identify and safely manage potential Ebola patients. The hospital has eight dedicated isolation rooms on standby, with procedures in place to contain any possible transmission. Authorities have also introduced precautionary screening measures at border entry points for travellers arriving from affected regions. As of last Friday, the DRC had recorded 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths in an outbreak that has also spread to neighbouring Uganda, which has reported 19 cases.
The preparedness efforts have been complicated by a deeply contentious plan, backed by the United States, to build a 50-bed quarantine centre at Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya — intended to isolate American citizens who may contract Ebola in the DRC. The proposal has generated significant public anxiety over the risk of cross-border infection and what many residents describe as a lack of government transparency. Last month, Kenya's High Court ordered construction to be halted after a rights group argued the facility posed "grave and imminent risks" to public health. Satellite imagery, however, indicates that building work has continued at the base despite the court ruling.
Tensions boiled over on Tuesday in the town of Nanyuki, near the air base, when a planned peaceful march to deliver a petition calling for the facility to be relocated turned violent after police blocked demonstrators from approaching the site. Officers deployed tear gas and water cannon, while protesters erected roadblocks and lit bonfires across parts of the town. Three people have now died in the unrest surrounding the dispute.
Among the dead is 17-year-old Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u, whose mother, Lucy Kagure, found his body in a local mortuary two days after he went missing. She told journalists he had simply left home to collect his school uniform when he was caught up in the clashes. His family say witnesses reported he was shot in the head; police say they are awaiting a post-mortem to determine the cause of death, and suggested a tear-gas canister may have been responsible. The Kenya Human Rights Commission has accused security forces of using excessive force, including live ammunition, during the demonstrations. "I want justice for my boy," Kagure said.
Kenya's President William Ruto has defended the quarantine centre plan, saying a refusal of the US request would be "inhuman," and has called on politicians not to politicise the Ebola issue. A US official said the administration remained "optimistic" that legal objections could be resolved. The standoff highlights the broader challenge facing governments across East Africa: balancing genuine public health preparedness against community fears and the need for transparent, accountable governance in a region on high alert.