Ruto: Rejecting US-funded Ebola facility would be inhumane

President William Ruto has defended Kenya's decision to allow the establishment of a US-funded Ebola isolation facility, saying it would be inhumane to reject a request from a long-standing health partner seeking to support regional disease preparedness efforts.

Speaking during a press conference in Pretoria, South Africa, on Thursday, Ruto said the facility forms part of wider measures Kenya has put in place to prepare for a possible Ebola outbreak despite there being no confirmed cases in the country.

The President said concerns surrounding the facility had overshadowed the broader objective of protecting Kenyans from a highly infectious disease that continues to pose a threat in the region.

"It would be most unfortunate if on one request by the Americans to set up a facility at their cost, we would refuse. We would look very inhuman," Ruto said.

He added that the debate should focus on whether the government is taking the right steps to protect public health rather than on the existence of the facility itself.

"So, the debate here is not about where and how to better set it up or not. The debate is, are we doing the right thing? Are we not? And I can tell you, without fear of any contradiction, and I can look at everybody in the eye and tell you we are doing the right thing," he said.

Ruto said Ebola remains a concern for countries in the region because of the movement of people across borders, noting that Kenya has thousands of citizens living and working in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The most responsible thing to do when there are reports of such a high-level infectious outbreak in a region where we have thousands of Kenyan citizens is to prepare for an eventuality, and that is what Kenya has done," he said.

According to the President, Kenya has strengthened surveillance at all entry points, with authorities screening between 2,000 and 3,000 people daily arriving from areas considered to be at risk.

He said the government has also mobilised testing resources, reagents and health personnel while training thousands of healthcare workers to respond to any potential outbreak.

Ruto disclosed that Kenya has established 23 isolation facilities across the country as part of its preparedness plan. One of the facilities, located at a military airbase, has drawn public attention because it was set up in collaboration with the United States.

The President said the US government has supported Kenya's Ebola preparedness infrastructure to the tune of Sh1.8 billion and requested that one facility be designated for use by American personnel should the need arise.

He noted that Kenya hosts a significant American military presence and said the facility would serve as an additional preparedness measure.

Ruto also stressed that Kenya would not deny medical care to foreign nationals in the country, regardless of whether the specialised facility existed.

"For context again, even if the Americans had not set up that facility at the military base, if there was any American in Kenya, we would take them to a Kenyan facility," he said.

The President further cited decades of cooperation between Kenya and the United States in the health sector, including support through programmes such as PEPFAR and investments in health infrastructure.

The government has maintained that all Ebola preparedness measures, including isolation centres and border screening, are intended to strengthen Kenya's ability to respond quickly to any potential outbreak while protecting public health.