‘We don’t have another country to run to’: Kenyans fear US plan for Ebola quarantine site

People from a town in central Kenya where the US wants to set up an Ebola quarantine facility for its citizens have strongly criticised the plan, saying they fear it will expose them to the virus and that it is indicative of double standards on the part of the US. “Everybody should be quarantined in their home country. We shouldn’t allow foreigners to bring us diseases,” said Charles Mathenge, a taxi driver who lives near Laikipia Air Base, the proposed site in Nanyuki, 120 miles from the capital, Nairobi. “Kenya is our country, and we should be careful with it.” There has been rising nationwide anger in recent days. Two people died from gunshot wounds when police opened fire on demonstrators near the airbase on Monday, according to a protest organiser. Police said they were unaware of any deaths. David Mulinge, a souvenir seller, said the US was treating Kenyans as ‘lesser beings’ by proposing to send its citizens with Ebola to the country. Photograph: Edwin Ndeke/The Guardian David Mulinge, a souvenir seller, said: “What’s shocking is that the Americans don’t want their infected fellow citizens to step into their own country but to come to Kenya. That’s like treating us as lesser beings.” Health officials in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are battling to contain an outbreak of the virus. The outbreak was declared on 15 May, but the virus is thought to have been circulating undetected for weeks before then. …