NAIROBI. In a turn of events that would make a screenwriter blush with envy, tensions have reportedly spiked like a poorly shaken gin and tonic at a Kenya protest against a proposed US Ebola quarantine centre. A man, whose name we will not print lest we get sued, has been shot.
Yes, shot. Because nothing says 'diplomatic disagreement' quite like a bullet in the thorax. The protest, a delightful little gathering of citizens expressing their displeasure at the thought of an Ebola facility being plonked in their backyard, has now been elevated to a full-blown international incident.
One can almost hear the clinking of glasses in Washington and the rattling of sabers in Nairobi. The US, in its infinite wisdom, decided that Africa, the continent already bearing the brunt of Ebola's wrath, would be the perfect place to build a quarantine centre. Because why not?
It's not like there are any other continents. The protesters, bless their cotton socks, saw this as a step too far. 'We don't want your plague, thank you very much,' they seemed to say, with placards and shouts.
But alas, someone got hot under the collar and now a man is nursing a bullet wound. The hospital, we hear, is filled with the groans of a system under duress, and the man's destiny is now entwined with the vagaries of international politics. Meanwhile, the rest of us drink gin and wonder if the world has gone mad.
Spoiler: it has.
