As the debate around Kenya’s Ebola preparedness continues to generate heat on social media and in political circles, ODM Youth Member Kasmuel McOure has said that people should stop confusing this move by the Ministry of Health with provocation.
“We do not build fire stations because we want fires. We build fire stations because we know the cost of unpreparedness,” he said.
The loudest bone of contention has been the proposed Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base, with critics insisting Kenya has agreed to become a dumping ground for infected Americans.
McOure said that that is a misinterpretation explaining why Laikipia makes logistical sense.
“Laikipia Airbase is removed from the general population. It’s a bit far isolated and has a long runway, so it means that you could harbour large airplanes and if anything, we also have a quarantine facility,” he explained
He also points out that Kenya and the United States have had a bilateral health cooperation agreement since 2013, renewed in 2017 and again in 2022, long before the current administration came to power.
As for Kenya’s ability to handle all of these, McOure does not think it is even a topic of discussion as Kenya is ready to handle the Ebola disease.
“If we have the quarantine facilities established to deal with Ebola, I think Kenya is a resilient nation that can overcome any disease,” he stated.
During the 2014 to 2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, Kenya deployed 171 health workers to the affected region.
Ninety-three of those doctors worked inside politically unstable Liberia and within five months, the country was declared Ebola-free.
“These doctors came back home. They did a great job. So we know we have the capacity,” he said.
His one frustration with the government is not the policy but the messaging.
“The Ministry of Health could do a better job, responding rather than reacting. This is not like COVID millionaires. This is quite literally an exercise of solidarity with the world and with our continent,” he said.
Kasmuel emphasized that Kenya has the capacity since it was able to deal with the first encounter of Ebola in Liberia.
“Let’s deal with the way we dealt with it in Liberia. If 93 of our doctors out of the 171 took five months to declare Liberia an Ebola-free country, I imagine the thousands of medics we have here,” he stated.
“Reject misinformation. Kenya is a resilient nation. If well handled, we have the capacity for this,” McOure concluded.
