The High Court has ordered Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to appear before it on June 23 to answer allegations of contempt connected to a disputed Ebola facility in Laikipia.
Justice Patricia Nyaundi issued the order after finding that existing conservatory orders on the project may have been breached, with construction reportedly continuing despite earlier court restrictions.
Documents reviewed in the case show the matter arose from a contempt application by Katiba Institute, which sought court intervention over the implementation of the project, understood to involve a US-backed Ebola quarantine facility.
Katiba Institute said Justice Patricia Nyaundi found that the government had deliberately disregarded existing conservatory orders by allowing construction to proceed at the proposed US-backed Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base.
The institute said the court summoned CS Duale to appear the following day, June 23, at 11:00 am, to explain the failure to comply with previous court orders.
In its findings, the court noted that project-related documents had been disclosed. It also raised concerns that the records lacked environmental and social impact assessments and safety contingency plans.
Katiba Institute argued that continuing construction despite court orders undermines the authority of the judiciary and violates constitutional requirements for public participation and environmental safeguards.
The court is set to examine whether the state complied with earlier orders that halted or restricted further work at the site pending full legal and environmental compliance.
The disputed facility is a US-backed Ebola quarantine centre being built at Laikipia Air Base, a project that has triggered intense legal and public debate across Kenya.
The court found that construction had continued, a move legal experts said amounted to open disregard for judicial authority.
Duale is expected to appear before Justice Nyaundi at 11:00 am on Tuesday to explain why the government did not follow the court’s earlier directives.
The agreement, valued at Ksh1.75 billion (USD 13.5 million), is aimed at supporting Kenya’s Ebola preparedness and strengthening broader health system capacity amid rising regional concerns.
The funding forms part of a larger Ksh14.5 billion (USD 112 million) bilateral assistance package for East Africa, including plans for Americans potentially exposed to Ebola in the DRC.
Although no Ebola cases have been recorded in the country, the government says the U.S. deal is intended to strengthen national preparedness, adding that 23 quarantine facilities are already in place and thousands of screenings have been carried out at entry points across the country.