The Kenyan Minister of Health, Aden Duale, announced this Wednesday that the Government has decided to definitively reject the project to set up isolation and treatment centers for citizens of the United States, closing the controversial plan funded by Washington and previously invalidated by the Kenyan Supreme Court.
"Allow me to make this clear: Kenya will not be a quarantine hub for any jurisdiction. Travelers coming from other countries will not be held in Kenya in order to comply with that other country’s entry requirements," he said in statements at an event in Nairobi.
The head of the Health portfolio emphasized that, while he is in charge of the department, the Ministry of Health of Kenya "will not issue any quarantine certificate" or an Ebola-free certificate for travel purposes. "Such certificates have no basis in the International Health Regulations," he warned.
At the same time, the minister insisted that the country remains fully open to tourism, economic activity, and travel. "There are no restrictions on the free movement of people or on public gatherings within our country," he pointed out.
In June, Duale had already ordered the suspension of construction work on a quarantine center after the Supreme Court ruling against it, amid the controversy generated by the project planned at a military base located in the city of Nanyuki, in the middle of the country.
At the time, the high court required the Executive to fully disclose the agreement reached with the United States or with any other State for the installation of that center, after ordering a temporary suspension of its implementation.
Meanwhile, various civil society organizations warned that the deal with Washington involved "serious and imminent risks" to public health, increasing social and political pressure against the plan.