Duale: We will not consult Kenyans on US Ebola facility
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Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said that the government will not seek public consultation on the establishment of a Ebola facility at Laikipia Air Base by the US government.
"This epidemic does not require any consultation before Kenyans are infected. We as a government have a moral constitutional responsibility to protect both Kenyans and other people who are not Kenyans who live within our border or who transit within our country," he said.
Appearing before the National Assembly, where he had been summoned to account for Kenya's Ebola preparedness amid a deadly regional outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, Mr Duale said, the Public Health Act mandates the Ministry of Health to take all necessary action to protect and safeguard the safety of citizens, visitors, and all those who live within Kenya's borders from any infectious disease.
"We are dealing with a very abnormal situation," he told Parliament. "The Public Health Act, section 35 and section 36, mandates the Minister of Health to take all the necessary action to protect and safeguard the safety of our citizens, our visitors and all those who live within the borders of our country from any of the infectious diseases."
He said that the Ebola quarantine facility being constructed in Laikipia Air Base in partnership with the US government is one of 23 such facilities being established nationally. The Kenyan and US governments will jointly run it under the command of the Kenya Air Force Base commander and the Ministry of Health.
The CS told Parliament that the Kenya-US biological engagement agreement was originally signed in July 2015 during President Barack Obama's state visit, ratified by parliament in February 2017, and renewed in April 2022 for a further seven years. A separate health cooperation agreement was signed in December 2025.
“I wish to state clearly that Kenya and the US government signed an agreement on cooperation in a threat reduction biological engagement programme on July 24, 2015 during the State visit of the then US President Barack Obama.
The Cabinet thereafter approved the Agreement in April 2016 and subsequently introduced it in Parliament and laid it on the table of the House on 19th July 2016. Upon undergoing the necessary parliamentary procedures and processes, the house approved the ratification of the agreement on the 9th of February, 2017,” said Mr Duale.
“The Agreement subsequently entered into force on 6th April 2017 and had a validity period of five (5) years. Thereafter, the Agreement renewing the cooperation was signed, and it came into force on 5th April 2022 (Annex 1). The extended agreement has a validity period of 7 years and is valid up to 5th April 2029. Further, on 4th December 2025, we signed a cooperation agreement with the United States government to strengthen Kenya’s healthcare system,” added the CS.
'Unequal treatment'
The contradiction did not go unnoticed in the chamber. MPs rebuked Mr Duale, voicing fears about community safety and the risk of disease spillover into surrounding areas.
Laikipia North MP Sara Korere expressed concern about what she described as unequal treatment of Kenyan and American lives.
"It's very unfortunate that we saw a US Secretary of State in Washington declaring that they will not allow even one single case of an Ebola-infected US citizen to set foot in America. So even if they are infected in Congo, we still feel that even today we are still being colonised," Ms Korer said.
Mr Duale defended the choice of Laikipia Air Base, saying that the location has one of the longest runways in the country for quick response units and that it is isolated from civilian populations. It is controlled by the Kenya Defence Forces and can be secured.
"The biggest hospital in DRC is owned and run by Kenyans," Mr Duale said, suggesting that Kenyans working in affected regions could themselves become infected and would need isolation facilities when they returned home.
He mentioned the 450 Kenyans deployed in DRC as part of the UN peacekeeping mission. All of them, he argued, could be exposed to Ebola. All of them would need somewhere to quarantine when they came home.
"If we are a responsible country, should we or should we not have isolation centres because this disease we can't run away from the fact that it is there and it is there in our neighbourhood," Mr Duale said.
The National Assembly in a past session.
The MP for Kiharu Constituency Ndindi Nyoro challenged disagreed with the CS.
"Kenyans have spoken in one voice. We do not want that facility of Ebola here in Kenya," he said. “The government needs to protect the welfare of Kenyans, but why are we not listening to Kenyans? Let's listen to our people. The United States have a better capacity, equipment and health care system that is far better than Kenya, I would request that Kenyans have spoken in one voice and we do not want that facility in this country.”
“In terms of the fragility of our health sector, and listening to some officials from the US proclaiming clearly that they do not want any case of Ebola in their country, how reckless will the government be in doing exactly that which the US do not want on their soil? As Kenyans, we refuse, the government must listen to Kenyans and desist from having this quarantine facility in Kenya,” said Mr Nyoro.
The Leader of Minority Junet Mohammed pressed Mr Duale on procedural failures.
"What Kenyans are asking is how the government safeguards the sovereignty and decision-making of this country. Whether you have done public assessment and public participation," he said.
Dr James Nyikal, the MP for Seme Constituency, raised questions on the operations of the proposed facility.
"Who will be admitted in this facility? What would be the criteria for admission? Will people who are already sick be transferred to this institution? Will Americans be admitted to the rest of the 23 isolation centres?"
When pressed on whether the facility would actually serve Kenyans, Mr Duale offered several examples of Kenyans who might need isolation on return from affected regions.
Kenya has approximately 450 personnel deployed in the DRC on a peacekeeping mission. Many Kenyans work in Uganda and the DRC. Two major Kenyan banks, KCB and Equity, employ Kenyans in the affected regions.
"The biggest hospital in DRC is owned and run by Kenyans," he noted. "Kenyans and the US will be treated there."
He drew a parallel to Covid-19, when international organisations built specialised hospitals in Kenya. "The UN, the US and many other international bodies built a hospital in Nairobi hospital a UN specialised hospital to deal with Covid. There was no noise that time," Mr Duale said.
On questions about Kenyans having admission to the facility, Duale was explicit: "The quarantine is not only for Americans, but also for Kenyans who will be isolated in the facility. Kenyans will have admission to all the centres.”
"Nairobi is the centre of the diplomatic community, we have over 3 million tourists, we must be cognisant about our health," he said. “If Ebola reached Nairobi, the consequences would be catastrophic not just for Kenyans but for the entire region's diplomatic and economic function. Laikipia is preparation for a worst-case scenario.”
When asked about Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that the US "will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States," Mr Duale refused to engage.
"On Rubio, I will not respond because that's an area of diplomacy. I will not touch on it," he said.
National readiness
He disclosed that Kenya's stocks of specialised test kits, reagents, and personal protective equipment are estimated to support only the first 200 suspected cases. To strengthen national readiness for the first 100 cases alone, the Ministry estimates that an emergency allocation of Kenyan Sh2.68 billion is required.
“If Kenya has confirmed cases, the readiness assessment shows that gaps remain significant: infection prevention and control at only 56 percent, case management at only 36 percent, operations support and logistics at only 50 percent,” he said.
Amidst the parliamentary debate, the US Embassy in Nairobi released a statement, acknowledging the High Court’s suspension of the construction of the Ebola quarantine facility.
In the statement, the embassy noted that they are “actively working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections and communicate our shared objectives to the Kenyan people”.
“The United States and Kenya share a historic health partnership that over the decades has benefitted both Americans and Kenyans. Our joint response to the current Ebola outbreak is a natural extension of our longstanding cooperation. As the health security situation evolves, we are working in tandem with Kenya and international partners to enhance protocols for the detection and spread of this deadly disease. The bio-isolation facility in Laikipia is part of a holistic response to prevent the spread of the disease and lessen health risks for the region as a whole; it does not pose a risk to nearby communities,” read the statement in part.
“Beyond Laikipia, we are working with Kenya to enhance border detection, provide accurate testing, and bolster the response in high-risk counties. Expanding regional capacity to isolate and test asymptomatic individuals, including Americans working on the response effort, will enhance Kenya’s readiness and preserve Kenya’s existing clinical resources to assist Kenyan citizens,” it added.
As of June 2, 2026, Kenya has cumulatively screened 71,243 travellers, with a primary focus on individuals arriving from affected countries and high-risk travel routes. This total includes 2,509 travellers processed within the last 24 hours.
To date, 22 suspected cases have been isolated and tested, all of which returned negative results. These potential cases were reported across the counties of Nairobi, Kiambu, Uasin Gishu, Nyeri, Nakuru, Nyamira, West Pokot, Kisumu, and Bungoma. Most recently, three specific alerts from Nairobi, Uasin Gishu, and Bungoma were investigated and confirmed negative within the past 24 hours.
Kenya has also mapped out a surge capacity of 241 expert medical responders who are currently on standby for immediate deployment. Additionally, 1,069 national and county healthcare workers have been sensitized on Ebola preparedness and response through structured virtual sessions.
Regionally, the Ministry of Health of Uganda has confirmed six more cases among contacts of confirmed cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 15. Uganda has also recorded 12 admissions, one death, two discharges, with 668 contacts under follow-up. The World Health Organisation said there have been 344 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 60 deaths, in the Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak.
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