12 Kenyans in Liberia to fly home

Kenya Red Cross Secretary-General Abbas Gullet addresses the Press at his office in Nairobi on August 25, 2014. Kenya Red Cross will airlift 12 Kenyans stranded in Liberia by the Ebola epidemic. PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• “At the end of the day, what matters is that these are Kenyans in distress and they are finally coming home,” said Mr Gullet.
• But Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia Tuesday said Foreign Affairs did not need any clearance before airlifting the Kenyans.
• “We made it clear when we imposed a ban many months ago that Kenyans were not affected so I don’t know what clearance anybody was waiting for,” said Mr Macharia.

By Kenfrey Kiberenge
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Kenya Red Cross will airlift 12 Kenyans stranded in Liberia by the Ebola epidemic.

The humanitarian agency will buy the air tickets and later invoice the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The deal was struck on Tuesday following the intervention of some Kenyans working with international organisations in Liberia.
But moments later, the ministry attempted to take credit for the move.

“Arrangements have been finalised and Kenyans stranded in Liberia following the outbreak of Ebola will be flown back to Kenya next week,” the ministry said in a tweet.

“Evacuation arrangements have taken long due to logistical issues as well as necessary precautionary measures that had to be addressed,” the tweet added.

Red Cross secretary-general Abbas Gullet said it did not matter who bought the tickets.

“At the end of the day, what matters is that these are Kenyans in distress and they are finally coming home,” said Mr Gullet.
“In the end, the government will foot the cost of bringing them home,” he added.

“We are meeting the costs. Red Cross will assist with logistics,” said Foreign Affairs PS Karanja Kibicho, insisting that this was not an evacuation.

WE ARE NOT EVACUATING!

“We are not evacuating. We are supporting Kenyans who have volunteered to return, but are unable to do so due to high costs.”
The government will spend Sh5 million to bring the Kenyans home.

The 12 will leave Liberia on Monday morning aboard a SN Brussels Airlines flight — one of two commercial airlines still flying the Monrovia route — and arrive in Nairobi anytime on Tuesday.

Last week, the Foreign Affairs ministry said it had bought the tickets but delayed in dispatching them until it got clearance from the Health ministry.

But Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia Tuesday said Foreign Affairs did not need any clearance before airlifting the Kenyans.

“We made it clear when we imposed a ban many months ago that Kenyans were not affected so I don’t know what clearance anybody was waiting for,” said Mr Macharia.

He told Foreign Affairs to “do its work”, adding that his officials were ready to take over at the airport.

The 12 will then be monitored for 21 days to ensure that none is carrying the killer virus.