A protest in Nairobi against a US-imposed Ebola quarantine spiralled into chaos this afternoon, leaving at least three demonstrators wounded and the city centre paralysed. Sources on the ground confirm that what began as a peaceful assembly outside the US embassy escalated after police fired tear gas into the crowd. The quarantine, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, bars Kenyans from travelling to the United States and has been met with fury from locals who accuse Washington of 'economic sabotage'.
British aid workers stationed in the capital have been placed on standby, with the Foreign Office issuing a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid the affected areas. A senior UK official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me: 'We are monitoring the situation closely. Our teams are ready to assist if the violence spreads.' The official would not confirm whether evacuation plans have been activated.
The US embassy in Nairobi has been sealed off, its flagpole now visible only through plumes of smoke. Witnesses report seeing young men hurling stones at security forces, while mothers clutched children and ran for cover. The quarantine, ostensibly designed to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, has been condemned by Kenyan leaders as a 'face-saving measure' that punishes the innocent. 'They are treating us like lepers,' said one protester, his voice hoarse. 'We have no Ebola cases here. This is about control.'
Documents uncovered by this reporter show that the US decision was made behind closed doors, with no consultation with Nairobi. The Kenyan health ministry, which recorded zero Ebola deaths in the past year, has called the quarantine 'unscientific' and 'racially motivated'. Meanwhile, the US ambassador has not been seen in public since the protests began.
The violence marks a new low in US-Kenya relations, already strained by trade disputes and allegations of CIA interference. The British government, eager to maintain its influence in East Africa, now faces a delicate balancing act: supporting its ally without alienating the Kenyan public. 'We are not taking sides,' the UK official insisted, but the presence of British aid workers on standby suggests otherwise.
I have spoken to three eyewitnesses, all of whom described police using excessive force. One man, a shopkeeper whose window was shattered by a tear gas canister, said: 'They treated us like animals. This is not a quarantine. This is a war.' The injured have been taken to Kenyatta National Hospital, where medics report treating fractures and burns.
The US has offered no timetable for lifting the quarantine. As dusk falls over Nairobi, the streets remain tense. British aid workers are ready to move, but for now, they wait. The question is not whether this crisis will deepen, but how many will be caught in the crossfire.
