A DEMONSTRATOR has been shot during a protest in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki against the construction of an Ebola quarantine centre for US citizens, witnesses have told journalists.
A protest leader told the Reuters news agency that police shot dead the demonstrator. The police have not yet commented.
Groups of protesters, who were waving Kenyan flags, carrying placards and holding a coffin with the word “Ebola” written on the side, had been demanding that the US plan to build the health facility at a nearby military base be reversed. The police had fired tear gas to break up the demonstration.
Last week, two people died after being shot as police dispersed similar protests.
The AFP news agency reports that on Tuesday there were running battles in Nanyuki – about 200km (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi – as protesters clashed with police.
Its journalists heard gunshots and saw a man who had been shot in the head lying motionless, AFP says.
Reuters reports that two of its journalists saw the body of the man in the back of a police vehicle, but they did not witness the shooting themselves.
The US plan has sparked public concern in Kenya about cross-border infection risks and the lack of transparency from the government about the treatment centre.
Last month, the High Court said the opening of the facility should be halted after a rights group opened a case alleging it posed “grave and imminent risks” to public health.
Protester Priscilla Imani told Reuters that the US plan has affected Nanyuki and the wider Laikipia county with people being afraid to visit.
“My message is this, Laikipia is not a dumping site and our voices must be heard,” she said.
The proposed 50-bed isolation centre is to be staffed by US medics and is intended to treat Americans affected by the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A US official told the BBC that Kenya was selected due to “proximity, airports in the region having limited capability, and to ensure Americans can be treated in a timely manner”.
The Congolese city of Bunia, the epicentre of the outbreak, is 780km (485 miles) from Nanyuki, with Uganda separating DR Congo and Kenya.
DR Congo has so far recorded some 600 confirmed Ebola cases and 100 deaths.