Two protesters were shot dead and at least 14 others wounded on Monday as demonstrations against a planned US-backed Ebola quarantine and treatment centre near Nairobi entered their fourth consecutive day, Kenyan police and health officials confirmed.
The protests, centred on the suburb of Kilifi near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, began last Thursday after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kenya’s Ministry of Health announced a joint $45 million Ebola isolation facility. Locals say they were not consulted, and fear the centre — designed to screen incoming travellers from Ebola-affected countries — will stigmatise their community and damage local businesses.
Police said officers opened fire after protesters threw stones at the construction site and blocked the Mombasa-Nairobi highway. A police Spokesperson said three officers were also injured. Kenya’s Inspector General announced a 7 pm curfew across Kilifi sub-county effective immediately.
The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has now reached 452 confirmed cases with 82 deaths, according to the Africa CDC. Kenya has not recorded a single confirmed Ebola case, but the government insists the facility is a preventive necessity given the volume of international traffic through Nairobi’s main airport.
President William Ruto held an emergency Cabinet meeting on Sunday and ordered a 14-day construction pause pending a community engagement process. He stopped short of cancelling the project, which is backed by a $30 million US CDC grant and would employ around 300 Kenyan health workers.
The opposition Azimio coalition called for the full cancellation of the facility and accused the government of prioritising American interests over Kenyan public safety. Several MPs from the coastal region submitted a motion to Parliament demanding a full environmental and health impact assessment before any construction resumes.
The World Health Organization said it was “concerned by the escalating tensions” and called on all parties to allow health infrastructure to proceed. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a Geneva briefing that Ebola treatment centres near outbreak zones were “non-negotiable” for containing the spread.
Kenya’s private hospitals have reported a surge in panic buying of protective equipment and hand sanitiser, with some retailers limiting purchases of face masks. The Kenya Medical Association warned against stigmatising healthcare workers who support the project.