President Ruto Appoints Mudavadi To Lead National Response Team On Incoming Ebola Patients

Facing a massive public backlash and legal threats over a secretive biological defense agreement with the United States, President William Ruto has ordered the immediate formation of a National Response Committee to oversee Kenya’s defensive protocols against the escalating regional Ebola outbreak.

In an executive directive issued on Thursday, May 28, 2026, the President appointed Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi to spearhead the multi-agency containment strategy as the deadly virus expands across Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A Unified, Nationwide Mobilization

The new executive committee is tasked with breaking down bureaucratic silos to manage medical readiness, allocate emergency funds, and roll out aggressive public health campaigns.

“The Government will establish a National Response Committee under the leadership of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to coordinate a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response, strengthen public awareness and preparedness, and mobilise the technical and financial resources necessary to address any eventualities arising from the Ebola outbreak,” President Ruto stated.

The announcement followed a high-stakes emergency summit at State House, Nairobi, where President Ruto hosted foreign ambassadors, global development partners, and multilateral health agencies to evaluate Kenya’s vulnerabilities.

The KSh 1.74 Billion US Deal Sparks Fury

The sudden formation of the response team is widely viewed by political analysts as an attempt to regain control of a narrative that has sparked widespread public panic. The political temperature spiked following revelations that Nairobi has quietly approved a United States-funded Ebola isolation and quarantine military installation at the Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki.

The deal was finalized during a high-level phone conversation on Thursday between President Ruto and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Washington pledging KSh 1.74 billion ($13.4 million) to fund Kenya’s biological readiness.

However, the decision to host a quarantine base for Americans exposed to a lethal Level 4 pathogen on local soil has ignited fierce domestic resistance:

• Medical Union Ultimatum: The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) issued a strict 48-hour ultimatum to the Ministry of Health, demanding absolute transparency regarding the safety protocols of the Laikipia base and threatening a nationwide healthcare strike.

• Constitutional Court Battle: Concurrently, prominent human rights and legal advocacy group Katiba Institute filed an urgent lawsuit in the High Court seeking a conservatory order to block the implementation of the U.S. military installation, citing severe biosafety risks and a total lack of public participation.

With the courts and medical unions locking horns with the executive, Mudavadi’s newly minted committee faces the dual challenge of protecting the country from a regional epidemic while defusing an explosive domestic diplomatic crisis.