There is no Ebola in Kenya, says President Uhuru Kenyatta

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that Kenya is free of the Ebola virus and is fully equipped to deal with the deadly disease.

The President also asked western countries to stop insinuating that there was Ebola in Kenya saying such rumours were having a negative impact on the tourism industry which is struggling to get back on its feet.

“There is no Ebola in Kenya and we are very prepared to control and contain the disease,’’ the President said.

He was speaking in Kilifi shortly after commissioning a new research and training facility at the Kenya Medical Research Institute’s Centre for Geographic Medicine Research.

He said it was unfair and ironical for western countries to imply that Ebola was an African disease yet cases of the outbreak have been identified in countries such as Spain and the United States.

The country, he said, had adequate and elaborate measures to deal with the Ebola virus and commended Kemri for leading in the region in the fight against the disease.

OUTSTANDING RESEARCH

President Kenyatta praised Kemri for its outstanding research work since its inception in 1979.

Kemri has 10 research centres in the country and has a graduate school of health sciences which offers post-graduate training in human health studies.

“We have no Ebola and we are ready to control and deal with it. You cannot tell us about Ebola when it is in Spain, Italy and other such countries. Don’t use it to stop visitors from coming to our country,’’ he said at the Karisa Maitha Stadium.

He said the Jubilee government would do all it could to revamp the tourism sector.

He added that he would soon start making trips abroad as part of the campaigns to market the country.

“Even with Ebola in West Africa, we shall market the destination and say we have no such problem. We do not have it and they should not use it to scare away tourists,’’ the President said.

TOURISM CONCERNS

The President’s statement followed remarks by Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi who expressed concern about the deterioration of the tourism industry.

Mr Kingi had said that it appeared Kenya would for the first time have the worst season in 50 years.

Mr Kingi said political leaders from the Coast would work with the national government to revamp tourism which is the mainstay of the region.

This, he said, was the reason the leaders who are in the opposition Cord had taken a “proactive’’ approach to development and reviving tourism.

He said his experience from a recent trip in Italy had brought out the need for urgent action to revamp tourism.

He announced that a meeting involving six governors from the region, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phylis Kandie and the Kenya Tourism Board would be held on Tuesday in Nairobi to discuss ways arresting the situation.

“We cannot afford to lose tourism,” Mr Kingi reiterated.