The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the government demanding full disclosure of alleged negotiations with the United States administration over the establishment of an Ebola quarantine and treatment facility at Laikipia Air Base.
In a statement on Thursday, May 28, the union accused the government of prioritizing foreign interests over the safety and health security of Kenyans.
"As the vanguard of Kenya’s healthcare system, we are utterly disgusted by the government’s apparent willingness to trade national biosecurity and the lives of its citizens for foreign aid. We will not sit back and watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony for a lethal pathogen that we did not generate," the statement read.
KMPDU said the ongoing ebola outbreak is currently concentrated in the DR Congo and Uganda, and questioned why Kenya had allegedly been selected to host exposed U.S. citizens instead of countries closer to the outbreak zone.
"The current Bundibugyo strain Ebola outbreak is centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. We demand absolute transparency from Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on why Kenya has been selected as the designated dumping ground for exposed U.S. citizens while nations directly bordering the epicentre are bypassed," the statement added.
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KMPDU also raised concerns about the transportation of potentially exposed individuals into Kenya, questioning the logic behind allowing such flights into Kenyan territory if the United States considers transporting them back home unsafe.
"If the United States believes the 12-hour medevac flight back to Washington is too dangerous for its citizens, by what logic is it safe to fly infected or exposed individuals into Kenyan airspace and drop them in Laikipia?" the statement further read.
KMPDU further cited what it described as the U.S. government’s own position on Ebola containment, arguing that Kenya should not be forced to shoulder risks considered unacceptable by the United States.
"The U.S. government openly states: ‘We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.’ If it is too dangerous for America, it is too dangerous for Kenya. We demand the immediate publication of the bilateral text and an explanation as to why Kenya is being structurally singled out to bear the biosecurity risks of a foreign superpower," the statement noted.
The doctors' union argued that Kenya’s public healthcare system is already struggling with inadequate resources, poor infrastructure, and shortages of critical medical supplies.
"Our public hospitals are currently structurally crippled. We lack basic diagnostic reagents, essential medicines, and functional intensive care infrastructure. Yet, the government is stretching our already thin national security and public health surveillance mechanisms to accommodate a foreign-funded biohazard hub," the statement further read.
KMPDU said the government should instead focus its attention on improving local healthcare services and addressing the challenges faced by ordinary Kenyans in public hospitals.
"The government must explain to Kenyans why resources and executive attention are being poured into a foreign quarantine facility while Kenyan citizens die in under-equipped public wards from preventable ailments," the statement read.
KMPDU also expressed suspicion over reports that the proposed facility would be staffed by personnel from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps instead of Kenyan healthcare professionals.
"We note with extreme suspicion that this facility is to be staffed by the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. KMPDU issues a stark warning: We will not tolerate an apartheid healthcare model on Kenyan soil," the statement added.
KMPD said that if the facility is eventually established, the government must ensure it directly benefits Kenyan healthcare workers through permanent employment opportunities funded by both the state and international partners.
"If this facility is built, the Kenyan government must leverage this as a non-negotiable mandate to permanently employ the thousands of jobless Kenyan doctors and nurses into the public mainstream, fully funded by the state and the international partners pushing this deal," the statement further read.
KMPDU warned that it would mobilize nationwide industrial action if the government failed to publicly disclose the negotiations within 48 hours or proceeded with the plan without addressing the country’s healthcare staffing crisis.
"We give the government a 48-hour ultimatum to make these negotiations public. Should the Ministry of Health proceed to sign away Kenya’s health security to appease foreign masters without addressing our structural healthcare shortages and staffing crises, KMPDU will mobilize nationwide industrial action," the statement concluded.
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