Kenya health minister in contempt over US Ebola site, says court

NAIROBI:

Kenya's high court found the country's health minister in contempt on Monday over the continued construction of an Ebola facility for US patients, despite an earlier court order halting the project.

Kenyans have strongly opposed the plan and there have been deadly protests since the facility was announced in May for potential US citizens evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is grappling with a major Ebola outbreak.

It has been constructed at Laikipia Air Base, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, with some 50 isolation beds, and is expected to be managed by US medical staff.

A court ordered construction to stop after complaints by rights group Katiba Institute, which argued the centre was being developed secretly and without consultation.

However, health minister Aden Duale insisted the facility would proceed, telling parliament earlier this month: "We will not stop it."

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), which was also involved in the petition, said the court had found Duale "in contempt of court arising from the continued activities relating to the proposed Ebola quarantine and treatment facility".

"Public authorities are not at liberty to determine which aspects of judicial directives they will comply with," it said in a statement.

Duale was ordered to appear in court on Tuesday "for mitigation and sentencing".

Contempt of court carries a maximum fine of 200,000 shillings ($1,500), and/or six months in jail.