The High Court has issued fresh conservatory orders stopping the government from establishing or operating any Ebola exposure, quarantine, isolation or treatment facility in Kenya under any arrangement with the United States or any other foreign entity.
The orders, issued after the Attorney General failed to appear in court, came in a petition filed by Katiba Institute challenging the alleged plan to host Ebola-related facilities in the country.
“Since the respondents are not in court, it is ordered that pending the hearing and determination of the petition, orders will be issued in terms of prayer F, H and I….” Court noted.
The ruling restrains the government and its agencies from facilitating, approving, authorising or permitting the establishment of any Ebola-related facility in Kenya until the case is heard and determined.
The court also barred authorities from admitting into the country, receiving, transferring or facilitating the entry of individuals exposed to or infected with Ebola under the disputed arrangement involving the United States or any other foreign government.
In a further directive, the court ordered the government to disclose details surrounding the proposed project and make the information available to both the petitioner and the public.
“The second respondent to furnish the Petitioner and the public with as set out in the notice of motion all those details,” court ordered.
The disclosure must include the full terms of any agreement, memorandum of understanding, negotiations or arrangements relating to the proposed facility.
The government has also been directed to provide details of any public health, environmental, biosafety or security assessments conducted in connection with the project, together with approvals obtained from Parliament, regulatory agencies or county governments.
In addition, the court ordered the disclosure of protocols that would govern the admission, isolation, management and treatment of individuals exposed to Ebola.
During the proceedings, Katiba Institute’s lawyer, Nyawa Malidzo, informed the court that attempts to access the proposed site had been unsuccessful and urged the court to intervene.
The conservatory orders will remain in force pending the inter-partes hearing and determination of the petition, dealing another setback to the government’s plans as legal scrutiny over the proposed Ebola arrangement intensifies.
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