Kenyan police shot dead a protester on Tuesday as hundreds demonstrated against a government-backed quarantine centre for Americans exposed to Ebola, with anger mounting over Nairobi's determination to press ahead with the facility.
Issued on: 10/06/2026 - 16:40Modified: 10/06/2026 - 16:41
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Patrick Wahome has helped organise protests in the central town of Nanyuki against the facility, and, like multiple eyewitnesses at the scene, told news agencies that the man died from a gunshot wound to the head. The NGO Vocal Africa also posted on X about the killing. Early on Tuesday, police began firing tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters. Some waved Kenyan flags and one carried a white cross emblazoned with the phrase "Reject Ebola" in red. More than 10 protesters were also detained by police, Reuters reporters said. At least two of them saw a body lying motionless with a large wound to the head in the back of a police van, though they said they had not witnessed the shooting themselves. A police spokesperson said he had no information about the incident. "Hooded police officers fired live bullets and arbitrarily arrested 19 protesters," the non-profit Kenya Human Rights Commission said in a statement posted on its social media accounts late on Tuesday. Officers had also attacked protesters and journalists, the statement added. The proposed 50-bed unit at Laikipia Air Base, near Nanyuki, has angered many Kenyans. Protester Priscilla Imani told Reuters the area's association with the quarantine facility was also deterring tourists who come to climb Mount Kenya or see rhinos. "Laikipia is not a dumping site," she said. US Ebola facility in Kenya fuels anger in a country with no cases A country with no case With no recorded cases of Ebola, many Kenyans are struggling to understand why their government is allowing the United States to build an Ebola facility in their country to treat US citizens. Some protesters directed their anger at President William Ruto, who last week said his administration was doing "the right thing" by establishing the centre. Others accuse the US of offloading the risk of caring for those exposed to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, where there have been more than 500 confirmed cases and 100 confirmed deaths. Two people were killed during similar protests in Nanyuki last week.
