While Other Nations Guard Their Citizens from Health Pandemics, Ruto Is Exposing Kenyans to Death

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has sharply criticised President William Ruto's government for agreeing to host a United States Ebola quarantine facility on Kenyan soil, accusing him of putting the lives of ordinary Kenyans at serious risk.

His remarks come at a time when the Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization, with the outbreak centred in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

At the heart of the controversy is a deal between Kenya and the United States, under which the White House confirmed it is establishing a facility in Kenya to receive Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola.

The facility, located at the Laikipia Air Base, is being built, staffed and run entirely by Americans, with no Kenyan public health officers involved. 

Gachagua and other critics argue that while other world leaders are busy shielding their own citizens from the deadly virus, Ruto has turned Kenya into a dumping ground for foreign patients.

Kenyan doctors have echoed the same anger. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union questioned why Kenya was selected as a destination for potentially exposed individuals while nations directly bordering the outbreak's epicentre were bypassed.

Their message was blunt: "If it is too dangerous for America, it is too dangerous for Kenya." 

The matter has already reached the courts. The Katiba Institute challenged the proposed facility in Kenya's High Court, while the Law Society of Kenya called on the government to reject it altogether. 

Gachagua insists that a true leader protects his people first. As the debate rages on, many Kenyans are asking the same question: why should their country carry a health risk that even America refuses to take?