NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) 鈥� Kenya鈥檚 President William Ruto has defended the establishment of an Ebola by the U.S., a move that led to further on Tuesday despite a court order the plan.
Ruto said on Monday that the U.S. had a long-standing partnership with Kenya on health matters and that the quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base was one of 24 facilities that had been established in the event of an Ebola outbreak in the country.
Some Kenyans have opposed the Laikipia facility after the U.S. last week said no American Ebola patient would be allowed to return home and that patients would instead be quarantined at the facility in Kenya. The U.S. intends to commit $13 million to the partnership with Kenya.
The high court on Tuesday extended orders issued Friday suspending the construction of the facility and the arrival of foreign patients. The case had been filed by the Law Society of Kenya and a constitutional watchdog, Katiba Institute, who cited Kenya’s fragile health system as unable to handle foreign patients.
Kenyans took to the streets on Monday and Tuesday to protest a plan to quarantine Americans in the country. Protest organizers said two people were killed during Monday鈥檚 demonstrations outside Laikipia Air Base.
Speaking for the first time on the matter, Ruto said he agreed to the establishment of the facility based on existing bilateral relations.
鈥淲hen President Trump asked the government of Kenya to support them by having a center at Laikipia Air Base, I gave the OK because it was an agreement and a partnership with friends who have worked with Kenya for 30-40 years,鈥� he said.
Ruto said the facilities established across the country under the partnership would also benefit Kenyans in the event of an Ebola outbreak.
鈥淲e are a responsible government. We know what we are doing. People should relax. Politicians should avoid reckless, unnecessary talk that doesn鈥檛 mean anything,鈥� he said.
Kenya has not recorded any Ebola cases, but neighboring Uganda has reported nine cases and one death confirmed. In Congo, 321 cases and 48 deaths had been confirmed as of Tuesday in the Central African nation鈥檚 three eastern provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu, according to the World Health Organization.
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