Ebola: Duale dodges queries over Americans quarantined in Kenya
Cabinet Secretary for Health Aden Duale when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation at Bunge Tower in Nairobi on June 18, 2026.
What you need to know:
- Flight radar data reviewed by the Nation tells a story that neither the Kenyan nor the American government has been willing to tell publicly.
- On Friday, Reuters reported that seven Samaritan's Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team staff members are quarantining in Laikipia.
Seven American aid workers with the Christian charity Samaritan's Purse have been placed under a strict 21-day quarantine at a newly built, highly controversial US bio-isolation facility inside Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya.
Health CS Aden Duale refused to comment on the public health matter that has sparked national and international debate.
The Nation had sought answers from him on three issues: whether he was aware of American citizens being quarantined at the facility despite the High Court order; whether construction of the facility had been completed in defiance of the order; and what the Ministry of Health was hiding regarding the seven American aid workers who were confirmed to be inside the facility on Kenyan soil.
Mr Duale considered the questions, then answered all three with two words: "Ask Reuters."
The Nation then put the same questions to Health PS for Public Health and Professional Standards, Mary Muthoni, on the presence of the seven American aid workers and whether their entry was consistent with the High Court's conservatory orders. She read the message and did not respond, and calls to her phone went unanswered.
Flight radar data reviewed by the Nation tells a story that neither the Kenyan nor the American government has been willing to tell publicly.
Flightradar24 records from 13 July 2026 show a sequence of aircraft movements in and around the base that point to an operational facility receiving personnel.
Taken together, the flight data from July 13 shows a Mexican-registered aircraft with a broken transponder circling over Laikipia, a Kenyan civilian aircraft moving between Nairobi and Nanyuki, and a Kenya Air Force military transport making repeated approaches to the same airspace, all on the day seven American aid workers are said to have arrived at the facility.
Reuters reported on Friday that seven Samaritan's Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team staff members are quarantining at the Laikipia facility, a claim confirmed directly to Reuters by Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse.
"None of them has any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days," Graham said.
A satellite image shows tents erected and vehicles at a new field hospital at Laikipia Air Base in Laikipia County, Kenya June 4, 2026.
This adds to the number of Samaritan's Purse staff affected this week. One of them, who tested positive, was evacuated to Frankfurt, Germany, for advanced medical care. He was one of the staff at Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organisation that provides physical assistance as part of its missionary work. The organisation is led by Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham.
The patient had spent the past month handling logistics work in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, and reportedly had no direct contact with Ebola patients. He has been quarantined since earlier this week at one of the organisation's two Ebola treatment facilities in the region.
Alex Kuria, the Samaritan's Purse Kenya country director, confirmed that one staff member, a logistician, had tested positive the previous Friday while in DRC, and had since been flown to Germany for treatment, where he was responding well.
On reports that seven additional staff members in Kenya may also have been affected, Kuria said he had no further information beyond what had already been reported.
"I have reached out to the head office to ask them what I can share and communicate with you. They are yet to respond. Usually, they will issue a statement, and when they do, I will share it accordingly," he said.
When the Nation reached out to Mr Duale then, he said bringing the patient to Kenya would be impossible, since the court had stopped construction of the facility.
The US Embassy in Kenya did not respond to requests for information. It later declined to comment on the legal status of the facility or the deployment of its citizens on Kenyan soil, referring this reporter to its Washington, DC office, which had not responded by the time of going to press.
The plan to build a dedicated treatment centre in Kenya for American patients has faced significant resistance, including public protests, a parliamentary summoning of Duale, and a High Court suspension.
Appearing before the court in June to answer contempt charges, Mr Duale confirmed that the Ministry of Health had officially halted construction of the Ebola quarantine and isolation facility at Laikipia Air Base.
"I wish to confirm to the court that the establishment of quarantine facilities at Laikipia Air Base, forthwith, has been stopped pending the substantive determination of the petition," he stated in his affidavit.
This contradicts a US State Department official's confirmation to Reuters that the group "voluntarily moved to the Kenya facility for precautionary monitoring and isolation," and that "Kenyan authorities have authorised their movement into the facility under the observation of the US Public Health Service clinicians."
A satellite image shows the Laikipia Air Base (left) at the start of construction work on the Ebola quarantine facility on May 19. A fresh image (right) shows tents erected and vehicles parked at a new field hospital at the venue on June 6, 2026.
This means the two governments defied the High Court order that had ordered the facility not to be established or operationalised. If another Kenyan authority has authorised American citizens to enter and occupy the facility, the two positions of the Kenyan government are in direct contradiction with each other. Americans are on Kenyan soil, inside a military base, in defiance of a court order that the Kenyan government has not complied with and the American government has not acknowledged.
One source told Reuters the group arrived at the site on Monday and was sleeping on army cots in tents. One member was described as a potential high-risk exposure case, meaning someone who had direct contact with Ebola patients in Congo.
Last evening, activists who had led protests against the Laikipia facility said they had not independently verified the claims that seven Americans were being quarantined inside the KDF barracks in Nanyuki.
Lawyer Derrick Maingi, an advocate with the human rights organisation Sheria Mashinani, said he would be disappointed if the reports were true, noting that residents had collected signatures petitioning the court to stop the facility's establishment.
"If this is true, then the government is once again in contempt of court orders, because the the quarantine facility was suspended pending the hearing and determination of the petition.
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