Sawt Falasteen - Kenyan president defends US Ebola centre amid protests

The US-built facility at Kenya's Laikipia Air Base was due to open last week according to US officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is battling a major Ebola outbreak.

The centre -- about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital Nairobi -- was set to have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US medical staff.

Violent protests broke out near the facility on Monday amid anger at the US using Kenyan soil and bringing Ebola patients to the country. They were met with tear gas from police.

Police, emergency services and the Red Cross could not confirm reports of deaths during the protests. The Red Cross said they had only heard of two injuries.

In a post on X on Tuesday, President William Ruto said the proposed US facility was "neither unique nor exceptional but part of a broader national preparedness system", adding that it "will be there to serve the people of Kenya and to serve our friends, including the Americans".

On Monday, he 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."

"Why anybody would want to politicise, to mobilise negative politics on a matter so serious as a pandemic?" he continued.

"We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing. So people should relax."

Kenya has recorded no case of Ebola despite widespread testing of arrivals but neighbouring Uganda has registered 11 cases including one death.

However, the High Court extended a temporary halt to the plan on Tuesday, according to rights group Katiba Institute, which filed a petition last week claiming it was being established unilaterally and in secret.

The court said the government had seven days to "disclose all agreements" relating to the facility.

A small group of protesters gathered in central Nairobi on Tuesday, wearing white protective gear and carrying a coffin emblazoned with "Ebola" and placards reading: "Reject Ebola in Kenya".

There have been more than 1,000 suspected cases of Ebola in DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including nearly 250 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

H.Darwish--SF-PST