The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the government regarding a proposed U.S.-backed Ebola quarantine facility at the Laikipia Air Base.
The union strongly opposes the initiative and has threatened nationwide industrial action if the bilateral negotiations are not immediately made public.
Reports indicate that the United States is planning to send American citizens exposed to the Ebola virus to Kenya for monitoring and treatment rather than repatriating them.
The outbreak, primarily driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, is currently spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
However, the proposal has infuriated the medical union and Kenyans at large. KMPDU Secretary-General Dr. Davji Atellah criticized the lack of transparency, condemning what he termed as backdoor negotiations between the Kenyan and U.S. administrations.
The union argues that Kenya’s healthcare system is already strained and lacks the proper infrastructure to handle such highly infectious, lethal pathogens.
“We will not sit back and watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony for a lethal pathogen that we did not generate,” KMPDU said in a statement.
The union further demanded 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 epicenter are bypassed,” the KMPDU boss said.
“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.
Stressing national autonomy, Dr. Atellah added, “Kenya is a sovereign republic, not a geopolitical isolation ward”.
The union also raised alarm over potential staffing arrangements, noting concerns that the facility might utilize foreign medical personnel.
Dr. Atellah warned that the union “will not tolerate an apartheid healthcare model on Kenyan soil”. KMPDU is demanding that if the facility is permitted, it must guarantee permanent employment for local healthcare workers, alongside comprehensive medical cover and hazardous duty allowances.
Furthermore, KMPDU has challenged the government’s priorities, questioning why resources are being dedicated to a foreign-funded biohazard hub when local public hospitals suffer from severe drug shortages and understaffing.
“Currently, our public hospital are structurally crippled. We lack basic diagnostic reagents, essentials medicine and well structured intensive care units. You cannot manage a local health crisis by Importing an international one” DR. Attellah said.
The union insists that thousands of trained local doctors currently unemployed must be absorbed into the system first.
Should the government fail to disclose the full details of the agreement or address the infrastructural and staffing crises within the 48-hour window, KMPDU has vowed to mobilize its members for a nationwide strike to “protect our healthcare workers and our country”.
