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

Published 17 June 2026 · health

A US Ebola quarantine centre has sparked protests in Laikipia, Kenya, over land and sovereignty concerns. Nairobi, Kenya – The death of a 17-year-old schoolboy

A US Ebola quarantine centre has sparked protests in Laikipia, Kenya, over land and sovereignty concerns. Nairobi, Kenya – 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 centre at Laikipia airbase in Nanyuki has triggered fierce debate over public participation, sovereignty and foreign influence. But in Laikipia, the anger runs deeper than the events of the past few weeks. 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. 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 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. 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 (100,000-acre) 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 centre has reopened many of the same questions. History of colonial land dispossession Before colonial rule, Laikipia was home to Maasai, Samburu and other pastoralist communities who moved seasonally across vast grazing lands. The roots of today’s disputes can be traced to the early years of British colonial rule. When Kenya became a British protectorate in 1895, colonial authorities assumed control over large areas of land. Subsequent laws gave administrators sweeping powers to allocate territory to European settlers. Large parts of Laikipia were incorporated into what became known as the White Highlands, a system that reserved some of Kenya’s most fertile land for European settlement. Historians trace many of the grievances that persist today to the 1904 and 1911 Maasai agreements, which facilitated the relocation of Maasai communities from parts of Laikipia and the Great Rift Valley as colonial settlement expanded. Other regions designated for white settlement included parts of the Mount Kenya region, Uasin Gishu, Naivasha, Nakuru, Kericho, Trans Nzoia and Mount Elgon. Over time, millions of acres were transferred into settler ownership while African communities found themselves increasingly excluded from land they had traditionally occupied or used for grazing. According to David Kyule, a professor of History and Archaeology at the University of Nairobi, the prolonged presence of settler families in Laikipia continues to shape local perceptions of foreign involvement in the region. “There is a reinforcement of the perception that Kenyan territory remains available for strategic foreign purposes. Whenever the British didn’t want any undesirables in their land, they would send them away to African countries. That is what the US is doing,” Kyule told Al Jazeera. The quarantine centre, according to him, is viewed by some residents through the lens of historical experiences with foreign powers.