Kenya the guinea pig? Ebola offer and other deals evoke queries

Workers from the Uganda Red Cross Society don protective suits as they prepare to evacuate the body of a suspected Ebola victim in Kampala on May 26, 2026. [AFP]

The Kenya Kwanza administration now finds itself in the throes of a political firestorm in the wake of revelations that the United States Government is expected to deploy health officers to staff a potential quarantine facility amid an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite the lack of official confirmation from the Ministry of Health on the same, the President William Ruto administration is already battling allegations of compromising the nation’s health and safety in a bid to gain favour with the United States Government.

Fresh off the heels of a contentious deal that saw Kenyan troops deployed to a hostile Haiti, while those from the US stayed at home, the Ruto administration now faces uproar even as critics point an accusing finger at the government for relegating Kenyans to global guinea pigs.

 According to reports by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, the facility is intended to house Americans who have been exposed to Ebola or at a high risk of testing positive for the virus. But questions are now swirling on why the quarantine centers were not staged in the United States with critics questioning whether the development, should Kenya assent to the deal, is based on financial influence.

Whereas the Health Ministry remains mum over the facility, the Africa Centre for Disease Control places Kenya among 10 countries at high risk of contracting the Ebola virus due to its geographic placement and connectivity.  Officials have however divulged that no case of Ebola has been recorded in the country with nine people who were tested for the virus were declared negative. So far, 48,000 people have been screened so far.

“As a major regional transport and trade hub, with busy land borders shared with Uganda and significant air commercial ties to DRC, Kenya sits directly in the path of any regional spread. All ten countries should strengthen their capacity to detect, test and isolate cases,” stated ACDC Director General Jean Kaseya.

It is on the premise of this that the news of an intended quarantine facility to host Americans in Kenya has sent shockwaves across the country.

But this is not the first incidence that has ushered in fears that the country and its citizens are being turned into guinea pigs at the behest of countries, global figures or powerful government allies.

Under the former US President Joe Biden administration, the U.S. backed a Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission led by Kenya to combat gang violence in Haiti. While the U.S. did not deploy its own troops, the White House pledged 300 million USD in funding and equipment to support the Kenyan police officers on the ground.

Kenya deployed its first contingent of 200 police officers to Port-au-Prince in June 2025, later joined by personnel from Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Canada. The mission as of December 2025 totaled 989 officers—735 of them Kenyan.

But at the tail end of the mission, Ruto, while speaking at a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, lamented the lack of predictable resources, reliable logistics, and a clear mandate. During the mission, three Kenyans were confirmed dead in Haiti.

“If we are sending an additional security team to Haiti, the mandate must be clear. Number one, we must be very clear on what it is supposed to achieve. Number two, we must have a predictable resource package,” he said.

While commending the United States for providing vehicles, Ruto noted that most were secondhand and frequently broke down, exposing officers to serious risks.

“They stepped up, but many vehicles broke down in dangerous places, putting our personnel in great danger,” he said, adding that plans to establish forward operating bases to hold gang-cleared territory stalled due to lack of logistics.

“We didn’t however get any useful support from any other quarter,” Ruto said.

Enter April this year and the Government of Kenya ratified a Defence Cooperation Agreement with France that grants French military personnel diplomatic-style immunity and legal protection while operating on Kenyan soil.

Kenya ratified the agreement on April 8, 2026 but the pact had earlier been signed on October 29, 2025, by Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya and French Ambassador Arnaud Suquet.

The development instantly drew controversies from the public and civil society groups.

Lawyer Miguna Miguna criticised the Defense Cooperation warning that it undermined Kenya’s national sovereignty and risks repeating past failures linked to foreign military presence in the country.

Miguna argued that the agreement weakens the constitutional principles of equality before the law and national dignity.

“The Constitution of Kenya 2010 emphasizes the sovereignty of the people, equality before the law, and national dignity,” he said. “Yet granting extensive immunities to foreign troops creates the appearance that Kenyan lives are subordinate to strategic alliances.”

Civil society groups were concerned that Kenya risked repeating “longstanding accountability failures under its defence agreements with the United Kingdom.”

And prior to this, the President Ruto administration was engaged in the controversial Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation host country agreement. The Host Country Agreement granted Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation immunity in the country from being prosecuted. It was gazetted on October 4, 2024.

But following the controversy that the agreement courted in its wake, the Law Society of Kenya challenged it in court, arguing that such powers should be declared null and void.

The High Court in November 2025 issued orders suspending the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's special Privileges & Immunities status pending the hearing and determination of a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya.

High Court judge Bahati Mwamuye also issued orders prohibiting the respondents from enjoying the Privileges & Immunities perks.

Ultimately, the Gates Foundation withdrew its agreement with Kenya citing that the legal cases mounted against the agreement had drawn attention away from its philanthropic mission.

According to a statement issued by Paulin Basinga, the Africa Director of the Gates Foundation, the Foundation vowed to continue with their branch office operations across the country.

Further, in early February, 2025, the government was grappling with mounting opposition to an intended nationwide Livestock immunization program that sought to combat diseases like the foot-and-mouth and enable international meat exports.

It targeted to vaccinate approximately 22 million cattle alongside 50 million goats, sheep and small livestock for the next three years.

The Kenya Veterinary Association however opposed the program citing the ambiguity and the fact that the Association, which is a key stakeholder, was not consulted. The Association, through its chairperson Kelvin Okore, demanded transparency on the diseases being targeted, the rationale behind the vaccination and the identity of the programme’s sponsors.

 “A vaccination exercise needs to be tailored to specific regions. For example, you cannot vaccinate against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the whole country. There are areas in this country where FMD is not such a challenge. So why would you go and waste resources there? So, the vaccination exercise needs to be tailored to the areas where diseases are endemic to,” said Okore.

The government was later forced to clarify that the initiative had no ulterior motive and disputed claims by a section of Kenyans that Gates, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has previously funded vaccination initiatives--including COVID-19--in poor countries globally, was involved in Kenya’s vaccination campaign.

Pundits however remain divided upon the setting up of the quarantine facility with one side arguing that it steps on the toes of our sovereignty while another welcomes the idea of a cross-border approach to fighting the spread of Ebola within the region.

Governance Expert Ahmed Hashi welcomed the setting up of the quarantine facility but implored on the Eastern African governments to do more to fund the setting up of a mega facility to deal with diseases such as Ebola whenever they occur.

“A disease has no boundaries and respects no sovereignty. I think the oldest principle of quarantine is to stay where you are. I don't know why they are doing this. But if they are doing so to help the DRC let's do it. We should let Uganda and DRC take the lead,”

He went on to defend the Kenya-USA ties noting, “Kenya has ties with the United States that are very strong. Kenya is the go to guy in the region. The others are separate that we can discuss as political issues. But when it comes to Ebola it is a collaborative issue that we must deal with to make sure it doesn’t happen. We should ask for help if we need it.”

Adding, “The other issues are definitely a  pig issue but  on this Ebola issue is different because we need the international Health organization to come in because diseases do not respect boundaries. If they are putting a quarantine institution here to help the people of East Africa, I welcome it. Even if it’s helping Americans and they are coming to help address the disease. We welcome it. And if this government is embracing a collaborative approach we welcome it.”

Governance and Management professor Gitile Naituli observes that the actions by the President Ruto administration in the recent past have pointed to an administration that will do anything-including risking the countries health safety- to ensure it benefits them.

“A proposal like that (to put up a quarantine facility to treat Americans is disrespectful to Kenya. Americans should be quarantined in America. Our president should protect us by not bringing diseases. It's not strategically important. We have a malleable government. Unpatriotic government,” stated Naituli.

“I was shocked when the President gave French military immunity. It's wrong! They were chased in West Africa and you accept them. No association that brings good here. It’s not about loans, corruption. Remember Kibaki almost chased the Britons. The government is not confident,” he emphasized.