NANYUKI (Kenya): At least one person was shot as Kenyan police fought violent running battles with protesters Tuesday over an Ebola quarantine centre being built for US citizens in a tourist town.
The centre at Laikipia Air Base in the town of Nanyuki, under the shadow of Mount Kenya, is set to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is battling a major Ebola outbreak.
Kenya has never recorded a case of Ebola and many oppose the idea of bringing potential carriers of the highly contagious disease into the country.
There were running battles around Nanyuki as protesters lit fires and threw stones at police, who responded with teargas and water cannons, AFP journalists saw.
Gunshots were heard and AFP saw one man lying motionless after being shot in the head. The Red Cross said another person was injured by a teargas cannister.
Dozens were arrested, including by armed police in plainclothes, AFP saw.
“Laikipia isn’t a dumping site… I’m not happy about the US decision that they’re going to build a quarantaine in our country,” said protester Priscilla Waimani, 47, wrapped in a Kenyan flag.
The centre is due to have 50 isolation beds and be managed by US staff and was nearing completion late last week.
Work has continued despite a temporary pause order from Kenya’s High Court and opposition from local politicians in Laikipia.
Earlier protests on June 1 saw two people killed, a rights group said, though the circumstances of the deaths remain unclear.