Kenya: David Maraga Questions Govt 'Hypocrisy' After U-Turn On Ebola Quarantine Policy

What the report says

Former Chief Justice David Maraga has accused President William Ruto’s government of hypocrisy after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said Kenya would not host quarantine facilities for other jurisdictions. Maraga argued that the state had previously defended plans for a foreign-linked isolation centre and had ignored public opposition to the proposal, which triggered violent protests in Laikipia in June.

According to the report from Capital FM, the earlier plan involved a 50-bed isolation and quarantine facility for US citizens who might have been exposed to Ebola. Residents and local leaders questioned why Kenya should accept the health and economic risks when the country had not recorded an Ebola case at the time. The article says the protests turned deadly, with two young Kenyans shot during initial clashes and a third fatality reported later, while several others were injured.

Maraga said the government’s current stance was inconsistent with its earlier defense of the facility and faulted officials for not openly addressing the deaths or the circumstances around them. The piece also notes that accountability remains an issue, with questions still raised about police conduct and the pace of investigations by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.

The criticism came as Kenya’s Health Ministry announced that it had discharged its last Ebola patient and released the final 11 contacts from monitoring. Officials said the 42-day countdown toward a formal Ebola-free declaration began on November 12, following the country’s first imported Bundibugyo virus case on October 6.