Amount Of Money Trump Allegedly Sent Ruto To Prepare The Quarantine Facility For American Citizens

The United States government has sent Kenya Ksh 1.7 billion, equivalent to $13.5 million, specifically designated for Ebola preparedness efforts, but the announcement has landed in a storm of public outrage over what the money is ultimately intended to facilitate.

The funding follows a phone call between President William Ruto and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during which Rubio made the American government's priority unmistakably clear. 

The United States wants to prevent Ebola from reaching American soil, and Kenya is being positioned as part of that firewall.

At the heart of the public anger is a planned quarantine facility that would be established in Kenya to hold individuals, including potentially American citizens, who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus before they are cleared to travel or enter the United States.

The revelation that Kenya could become a holding ground for American quarantine operations has not sat well with a significant number of Kenyans who see it as the country being used as a buffer zone for another nation's health security concerns.

Critics have questioned the terms and conditions attached to the funding, asking what Kenya gets beyond the money and whether the arrangement adequately protects Kenyan citizens and sovereignty in the process.

Supporters of the deal argue that Ksh 1.7 billion directed at Ebola preparedness strengthens Kenya's own health infrastructure at a time when the Africa CDC has already flagged the country as being at high risk of an outbreak given the spread of the Bundibugyo strain in neighbouring DRC and Uganda.

The money has arrived. The facility is planned. And Kenya is debating whether the price of the partnership is one it is comfortable paying.