NAIROBI, Kenya July 18 – The Katiba Institute has accused the government of violating a High Court order after reports emerged that seven American aid workers potentially exposed to the Ebola virus had been admitted to the controversial isolation facility at Laikipia Air Base.
In a statement on Saturday, the constitutional lobby group said the reported transfer of the foreign nationals to Kenya, if carried out under a bilateral agreement with the United States, amounted to a blatant disregard of court orders and posed serious constitutional and public safety concerns.
The statement follows confirmation by U.S.-based humanitarian organisation Samaritan’s Purse that seven of its American aid workers who had been deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to support the Ebola response are undergoing a mandatory 21-day quarantine at the Laikipia facility.
The organisation said none of the seven has developed Ebola symptoms and that they are being monitored as a precaution after the United States introduced new travel restrictions requiring Americans returning from Ebola-affected areas to quarantine in a third country before re-entering the U.S.
The seven are the first occupants of the U.S.-backed 50-bed bio-isolation facility, whose establishment has been the subject of a legal battle in Kenya.
Reacting to the latest developments, Katiba Institute said it had been closely monitoring reports indicating that foreign nationals potentially exposed to Ebola had been admitted to the facility.
“We have been closely following the deeply alarming news reports indicating that seven foreign nationals, potentially exposed to the Ebola virus, have been admitted to Kenya and placed under quarantine at the contested Laikipia Air Base facility,” the institute said.
It argued that if the reported transfer took place under the bilateral arrangement between Kenya and the United States, it would constitute an absolute outrage.
“It represents a flagrant and dangerous defiance of the active High Court Conservatory orders that explicitly halted the establishment and operationalisation of this secretive site,” the statement read.
The institute further accused government officials involved in authorising or facilitating the quarantine arrangement of undermining both the Constitution and public confidence in state institutions.
“Executive impunity cannot be allowed to override the Constitution or the safety of our citizens. Any Kenyan government official who authorised, facilitated, or turned a blind eye to this blatant violation of court directives is in breach of their oath of office and completely betrayed the public trust,” it said.
The High Court had earlier issued conservatory orders suspending the construction and operationalisation of the facility pending the hearing and determination of petitions challenging its legality.
However, Reuters reported that work on the site continued despite the court order, with satellite imagery and U.S. officials indicating that the facility had become operational.
The controversy surrounding the Laikipia facility has persisted for months after the Kenyan government entered into an arrangement with the United States to establish an Ebola quarantine centre intended for U.S. citizens exposed to the virus while responding to outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries.
The plan triggered public protests in Laikipia and legal challenges by civil society organisations, which argued that the agreement lacked transparency and had not undergone public participation.
Although the government has maintained that the quarantine is a precautionary measure and that the seven Americans are not infected with Ebola, the revelation that the facility is already operational has renewed scrutiny over whether the government complied with court orders and constitutional requirements before allowing it to receive occupants.
