Kenya's Health Minister Aden Duale has been found guilty of contempt of court for defying orders to halt construction of a US-funded Ebola quarantine facility. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday.
The case highlights tensions between public health preparedness, national sovereignty, and citizen concerns over potential risks, with significant implications for Kenya's healthcare system and its relationship with the US.
Kenya's Health Minister Aden Duale has been found guilty of contempt of court for defying orders to halt the construction of a controversial US-funded Ebola quarantine facility. A judge ruled on Monday that Duale had ignored a High Court order to suspend the project at a military base in Nanyuki, allowing construction to continue.
Duale is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday. The facility is intended for US citizens suspected of contracting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The plan has faced significant opposition, including protests that have resulted in at least three deaths, including a 17-year-old schoolboy.
Rights group the Katiba Institute had warned the arrangement posed "grave and imminent risks" to public health. The health ministry had previously insisted it had not flouted the court order, claiming construction was being done solely by the Kenyan government. However, the judge stated the government could not "avoid compliance by recasting or re-characterising the ongoing construction."
President William Ruto has defended the plan, calling it "inhuman" to refuse the US request and urging against politicizing the serious matter of Ebola. The US intends to provide $13.5m in aid for Kenya's Ebola preparedness efforts as part of a larger $112m commitment to the regional response. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has also voiced opposition, questioning why Kenya was chosen to host such a facility.