On June 2, 2026, deadly violence erupted during mass demonstrations in central Kenya against a proposed United States-backed Ebola isolation center at the Laikipia Airbase, leaving two local men dead and deepening public divisions over the controversial public health project.
Hundreds of area residents gathered near the military installation to voice their opposition to the 50-bed treatment facility, which is planned to be staffed by American medical personnel and exclusively treat U.S. citizens infected during the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Notably, Kenya has not recorded any confirmed Ebola cases to date, a fact that has amplified local skepticism of the project. Protesters took to major access roads, blocking vehicle traffic and setting burning tires in the roadways to draw attention to their demands. In response to the unrest, law enforcement officers deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd, and gunfire later broke out that claimed the two lives.
Local reporting confirms that the first victim was shot close to the perimeter of the airbase, then transported to a nearby hospital by friends, where he succumbed to his injuries. The second victim was carried to the same medical facility by Kenyan soldiers, and medical staff pronounced him dead immediately upon arrival. Community leader Patrick Wahome told the British Broadcasting Corporation that one of the two slain men was simply traveling home after closing his small business when he was caught up in the violence and fatally shot.
The project has faced legal challenges from the moment it was announced. Last Friday, Kenya’s High Court ordered a full halt to construction on the facility after a local human rights organization filed a legal challenge, arguing that the center posed unacceptable infection risks to nearby residential communities. On Tuesday, the court extended the temporary suspension and issued a formal order directing the Kenyan national government to release full, public details about the terms and scope of the agreement with the United States.
Kenyan President William Ruto has publicly defended the bilateral agreement, framing the project as a gesture of longstanding friendship between the two nations. Ruto confirmed that the initiative was launched at the request of the U.S. government, stating: “When President Trump asked Kenya to support them by having a centre in Laikipia Airbase, I gave the ok because it was an agreement with friends who have walked with Kenya for 30, 40 years.” He added that Kenya has taken all possible measures to protect the health and safety of its citizens throughout the planning process. The deaths have now escalated public pressure on the Kenyan government to scrap the project entirely, while legal proceedings over the facility’s future remain ongoing.