What Duale Said In Parliament About The Ebola Quarantine Facility That Has Angered Kenyans

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has sparked fresh outrage after making remarks in Parliament that directly contradicted the calls for public participation that Kenyans across the country have been demanding over the controversial Ebola quarantine facility.

Duale stated plainly that the government does not need to conduct public participation on the matter and went further to say that citizens will not be consulted on the decision to build the facility.

He argued that an epidemic does not require consultations, a position that has since drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers, legal experts and ordinary Kenyans alike.

The remarks landed badly in a country where public participation is not merely a courtesy but a constitutional requirement enshrined in Kenya's 2010 constitution.

Critics were quick to point out that dismissing citizen input on a project of this nature and magnitude is not just politically tone deaf but potentially unconstitutional.

The timing of the statement made it even more inflammatory, coming at a point when protests had already erupted in Nanyuki, courts had moved to stop the facility, and international media including Al Jazeera and CBS News had already picked up the story and broadcast it to global audiences.

For many Kenyans, Duale's remarks confirmed their worst fears, that the government had already made up its mind on the facility regardless of what the public thinks, and that the voices of ordinary citizens were being deliberately shut out of a decision that directly affects their safety and wellbeing.

MPs and opposition figures responded with fury, with several vowing to escalate their opposition to the project both inside and outside Parliament following the CS's dismissive stance toward public involvement.