Kenya’s largest doctors’ union has strongly opposed reported plans to establish a U.S.-linked Ebola quarantine and treatment facility in the East African country, warning that the move could turn Kenya into a “containment colony” for foreign health crises.
In a sharply worded statement released on Thursday and signed by Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Davji Bhimji Atellah, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) accused the Kenyan government of engaging in “backdoor negotiations” with the United States over the proposed facility at Laikipia Air Base.
The union said it was “utterly disgusted” by what it described as the government’s willingness to compromise Kenya’s national biosecurity in exchange for foreign aid.
The controversy comes amid a Bundibugyo strain Ebola outbreak centered in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), raising fresh concerns over cross-border health security in East Africa.
KMPDU questioned why Kenya was allegedly selected to host a quarantine facility for exposed U.S. citizens, despite not being at the epicentre of the outbreak.
