NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s health minister issued an order Tuesday to suspend construction of an Ebola quarantine facility designed to house Americans who contract the virus while abroad, one day after being held in contempt of court for allowing the project to continue.
Officials from the Trump administration had announced plans to send Americans exposed to Ebola in foreign countries to the new Kenyan facility rather than bringing them back to the United States.
Back in May, a high court had directed that construction be stopped while judges considered a legal challenge brought by the Law Society of Kenya and the Katiba Institute, a constitutional watchdog group. Those organizations argued that Kenya’s already strained health infrastructure could not safely manage a potential Ebola outbreak.
Despite that court order, construction pressed on. Residents in the area staged multiple protests over the project, and three people died during those demonstrations.
Health Minister Aden Duale was found in contempt on Monday and was required to appear at a sentencing hearing the following day. During that hearing, Duale offered an apology to the court, stating that it was never his intention to “disregard, undermine or act in defiance of the orders of the court.”
The court accepted the apology and chose not to impose any additional punishment on the minister.
Duale also pushed back against fears surrounding the facility, insisting that worries about it endangering nearby communities were not backed by science.
“The fear that the Laikipia facility could serve as a vehicle for Ebola importation into surrounding communities is scientifically unfounded,” Duale said.
The United States has pledged $13.5 million to support Kenya’s efforts to prepare for a potential Ebola outbreak.
