Ghosts of empire: A quarantine centre and Laikipia’s colonial past

The death of a 17-year-old schoolboy during protests against a planned US Ebola quarantine facility has transformed a public health project into one of Kenya’s most contentious political controversies this year. Three people have now been killed, a court challenge has halted construction, and the proposed 50-bed center at Laikipia airbase in Nanyuki has triggered fierce debate over public participation, sovereignty, and foreign influence.

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The facility, intended to quarantine American citizens potentially exposed to Ebola during outbreaks in East and Central Africa, has reopened long-standing grievances in a county where the legacy of British colonial rule remains etched into the landscape.

But in Laikipia, the anger runs deeper than recent events. The facility, intended to quarantine American citizens potentially exposed to Ebola during outbreaks in East and Central Africa, has reopened long-standing grievances in a county where the legacy of British colonial rule remains etched into the landscape. For many residents, the controversy is not simply about disease or public health; it is about land, power, and a history that never fully disappeared.

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For many residents, the controversy is not simply about disease or public health. It is about land, power and a history that never fully disappeared.

Laikipia occupies a unique place in Kenya’s colonial story. Large parts of the county once formed part of the White Highlands, where some of the country’s most fertile land was reserved for European settlement. More than six decades after independence, descendants of settler families continue to own vast ranches and conservancies, while disputes over land ownership and historical injustice remain unresolved. As protests against the quarantine center intensified, those grievances resurfaced with renewed force, exposing how questions first raised more than a century ago continue to shape reactions to foreign involvement in Kenya today.

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More than six decades after independence, descendants of settler families continue to own vast ranches and conservancies, while disputes over land ownership and historical injustice remain unresolved.

The tensions are hardly new. In May 2021, famed Italian-born conservationist and author Kuki Gallmann was shot by cattle raiders while driving through her conservancy in Laikipia County. Gallmann’s 40,500-hectare ranch is among the largest and most controversial privately owned properties in the region. At the time of the attack, Kenya was experiencing a severe drought that had pushed pastoralist communities far beyond their usual grazing routes in search of pasture and water for their livestock. Gallmann’s land had both, but like many large ranches and conservancies across Laikipia, it was largely inaccessible to herders whose animals were dying as grazing land disappeared. The result was a bitter confrontation that once again exposed the unresolved tensions surrounding land ownership in the county. It was not the first time Gallmann or other large-scale landowners had been targeted in attacks linked to grazing disputes. While Gallmann survived being shot, other ranch owners have been killed in separate incidents over the years. For many residents, those conflicts are symptoms of a deeper historical dispute. The controversy surrounding the quarantine center has reopened many of the same questions.

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As protests against the quarantine centre intensified, those grievances resurfaced with renewed force, exposing how questions first raised more than a century ago continue to shape reactions to foreign involvement in Kenya today.