Kenya minister found in contempt of court over US-backed Ebola centre

Aden Duale defied a High Court order to stop building work on a controversial US-funded facility. Kenya Ebola: Health Minister Aden Duale found in contempt of court over US-backed quarantine plan Why does DR Congo keep facing disease outbreaks? Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. A head-and-shoulders image of Aden Duale. A white collar and dark suit can just be seen at the bottom of the picture. Kenya minister found in contempt of court over US-backed Ebola centre Kenya's Health Minister Aden Duale has been found guilty of contempt of court over his handling of the construction of a controversial US-funded Ebola quarantine facility. Last month, the High Court halted the building of the 50-bed isolation centre at a military base in the town of Nanyuki until a case brought by a rights group could be heard. Last month, the High Court halted the building of the 50-bed isolation centre at a military base in the town of Nanyuki until a case brought by a rights group could be heard. But on Monday, a judge ruled that Duale had ignored the order and allowed the project to continue. He is to be sentenced on Tuesday. The quarantine facility is intended for US citizens who are suspected to have contracted Ebola in the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The plan has sparked a series of angry protests in Nanyuki, which is about 140km (87 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi, during which three people have died as police attempted to disperse the demonstrators. Among those killed was 17-year-old schoolboy Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u who nurtured ambitions of becoming a priest - witnesses say he was shot in the head, but police told the BBC they were awaiting post-mortem results to determine the cause of the boy's death. Among those killed was 17-year-old schoolboy Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u who nurtured ambitions of becoming a priest - witnesses say he was shot in the head, but police told the BBC they were awaiting post-mortem results to determine the cause of the boy's death. In its court petition in May to stop the construction, rights group the Katiba Institute warned that the arrangement posed "grave and imminent risks" to public health. The health ministry later insisted it had not flouted last month's court order to stop the joint US-Kenyan building works, because any ongoing construction was being done solely by the Kenyan government in the national interest to protect Kenyans against Ebola. But on Monday the judge said the government could not "avoid compliance by recasting or re-characterising the ongoing construction", adding that a court order "is not an invitation to ingenuity - it is a command to be obeyed". Lady Justice Patricia Nyaundi added that Duale knew and understood that all construction at the Nanyuki site had to stop - yet he allowed it to continue. In recent weeks Kenya's President William Ruto has defended the plan for the US-funded Ebola quarantine site, saying he had received a request from the US to establish the centre and a refusal would be "inhuman". He also called on Kenyans not to politicise a matter "so serious" as Ebola, asking politicians to avoid "reckless" talk about it. Teenager Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u was one of three people killed in angry protests against the Ebola centre - police have not answered claims they used excessive force on civilians Teenager Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u was one of three people killed in angry protests against the Ebola centre - police have not answered claims they used excessive force on civilians A photograph of Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u in a school uniform. He is in a grey jacket, white shirt and red tie. Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, had not recorded any Ebola cases as of Monday. The affected countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has recorded more than 1,000 confirmed cases and Uganda which has had 20 confirmed cases - most imported from DR Congo - so far. the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has recorded more than 1,000 confirmed cases and Uganda which has had 20 confirmed cases - most imported from DR Congo - so far. The US plan has led to vocal opposition from one of the biggest medical unions in Kenya - the KMPDU - which questioned why the country was chosen to host a quarantine facility for exposed American citizens. The Congolese city of Bunia, the epicentre of the outbreak, is 780km (485 miles) from Nanyuki, with Uganda separating DR Congo and Kenya. Davji Bhimji Atellah, KMPDU's secretary general, said the union "will not sit back and watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony for a lethal pathogen that we did not generate". Washington intends to provide $13.5m (£10.7m) in aid to fund Kenya's Ebola preparedness efforts, according to a spokesperson for US Secretary of State Marco Rubio That amount is part of a larger $112m US commitment for the regional response to the outbreak. Why does Ebola keep breaking out in DR Congo? Ebola itself was first discovered in what is now the DRC in 1976 and the country is now facing its 17th outbreak. So why does DR Congo keep facing disease outbreaks? More from the BBC on the Ebola outbreak: A person in PPE and full head covering is having their goggles adjusted by someone, with blue protective gloves, out-of-focus in the foreground. The green scrubs and hair covering of that person can be seen on the right of the picture. What is Ebola and why is stopping the latest outbreak so difficult? Volunteers in blue scrubs, rubber boots and white gowns carry a coffin towards a dug grave. A few people, including one holding a spade, watch on from the side. 'I buried my parents one day after the other' - Ebola mourners learn how to grieve safely A health workers wearing green scrubs smiles and dances as she waves hr left hand in the air. Recovery of Ebola patients offers rare moments of joy at epicentre of outbreak A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News Africa Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Martha Karua is a lawyer representing detained Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye who is on trial for treason. Brothers Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye speak to the BBC after getting hitched to twin sisters. The prohibition is intended to boost the country's economy by refining gold domestically. The warehouse fire is producing smoke and impacting air quality throughout the region, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency. The US vice-president says a great deal of progress has been made after the first round of talks between the US and Iran. As chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan became the world's most high-profile banker. An outbreak of Ebola in DR Congo involves a rare species of the virus and is in an area affected by conflict.