Kenya has received a Sh259 million grant from the Chinese government, and the money will go to two urgent problems at once: Ebola preparedness and drought response. Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan handed over the funds to the National Treasury on Thursday, October 8, 2026, in a short ceremony in Nairobi.
Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo, who received the grant, said the money is worth USD 2 million and is a sign of the good ties between Kenya and China. He said the funds will be split evenly. Sh129.5 million will go to drought mitigation in the affected counties, where many families have lost livestock and are struggling to get clean water and food. The other Sh129.5 million will help the country prepare for, and respond to, any Ebola outbreak.
The timing matters a lot. Just two days earlier, on Tuesday, October 6, the Health Ministry confirmed Kenya’s first-ever imported Ebola case. The patient was a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He travelled to Nairobi through Uganda and was isolated at Nairobi Hospital, but he later died and was buried. Health Cabinet Secretary announced the death and said the government had already traced the people he came into contact with.
Those people include his family members, the health workers who attended to him, and the fellow travellers he journeyed with. The government says all of them have been identified and placed under isolation, and officials are monitoring them closely. Kenyans are being asked to stay calm, wash their hands often, and report anyone showing symptoms like high fever, vomiting or bleeding to the nearest health facility.
The government is also looking for money from other places. Kenya has asked the World Bank for about Sh51.8 billion, which is around USD 400 million, through its Rapid Response Option for emergencies. Overall, the government plans to mobilise about Sh70 billion for the response. The National Treasury has already set aside an initial Sh2.6 billion for emergency work, and it is expecting another Sh21 billion from the United States under the State Department’s direct assistance programme.
For ordinary Kenyans, this is a reminder that drought and disease can hit at the same time, and that the country has to be ready for both. Whether the money reaches the people who need it most will depend on how fast it is spent and how openly it is accounted for. Wananchi will be watching closely.
