Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has asked the High Court to dismiss petitions challenging the government’s Ebola preparedness measures, including the establishment of an isolation and treatment facility at the Laikipia Air Base, arguing that the project is lawful, necessary and designed to protect Kenya from a regional outbreak.
In a lengthy replying affidavit filed before the court, Duale defended the government’s collaboration with the United States, saying the proposed facility is part of a nationwide public health preparedness programme and not a centre intended exclusively for foreign nationals.
The petitions, filed by the Katiba Institute and the Law Society of Kenya, accuse the government of violating constitutional requirements on public participation, transparency and parliamentary oversight in its implementation of the project.
However, Duale told the court that the facility forms part of a network of 23 preparedness centres planned across the country to enhance Kenya’s ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks.
“The facilities are not established for the exclusive benefit of foreign nationals, foreign governments or any special category of persons,” Duale stated in the affidavit. “They are intended to protect all persons within the territory of Kenya, including Kenyan citizens, residents, refugees, visitors, diplomats and expatriates.”
According to the Health CS, the Laikipia facility will operate under the joint management of the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Air Force, with overall command remaining under Kenyan authorities.
He said as of June 3, the DRC had recorded 1,083 suspected Ebola cases and 259 deaths, including 321 laboratory-confirmed infections, while Uganda had confirmed 12 cases and two deaths.
Kenya, he noted, has not recorded any confirmed Ebola infections, although 22 suspected alerts reported from counties including Nairobi, Kiambu, Kisumu and Bungoma were investigated and tested negative.
Duale maintained that the government’s preparedness measures are both prudent and legally justified.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Duale
He rejected claims that Kenya’s cooperation with the United States amounted to a surrender of sovereignty, arguing that all public health decisions within the country remain under the control of the Kenyan government.
“International cooperation does not mean surrender of national authority and sovereignty,” Duale said.
“All public health decisions within Kenya remain under the authority of the Government of Kenya.”
The Cabinet Secretary further told the court that Kenya and the United States have maintained a biological threat reduction partnership since 2015, an agreement that received parliamentary approval in 2017.
He added that the United States has contributed approximately USD 8 billion to Kenya’s health sector over the past 23 years.
Duale also argued that the Public Health Act expressly empowers the government to establish quarantine and isolation facilities as preventive measures against infectious diseases, even where outbreaks are occurring outside Kenya but pose a foreseeable risk to public health within the country.
“A purposive and contextual interpretation of the Public Health Act supports the establishment and utilization of quarantine and isolation facilities within Kenya as preparedness and preventive measures where an outbreak occurring outside Kenya poses a foreseeable risk to public health within the country,” read the court documents.
