Kenya: Measures have been put in place ahead of the arrival of the 12 Kenyans returning from Ebola-hit Liberia.

They are expected at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Tuesday at about 11am aboard a chartered flight, officials said.

They left Liberia Sunday evening aboard an SN Brussels Airlines flight, one of two commercial airlines still flying to Monrovia. They later connected with a chartered flight. On arrival, they will be put on a safety procedure involving monitoring for 21 days to ensure none is carrying the killer virus.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed said the group will arrive on a special chartered flight and that they will not be allowed to join their families before the tests are conducted and a quarantine period completed.

"We have plans in place to test all of them as a way of taking the necessary precautions to remove fear and uncertainty among all Kenyans regarding concerns about any infections," she said

Kenya Red Cross is helping with the evacuation and they will be received at Port Clinic within JKIA before being put in the procedure. The Kenyans have been stranded there for the past two months since national carrier Kenya Airways stopped plying the West African route.

In August, the airline suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone, following the Ebola outbreak that has so far killed more than 4,500 in the region.

In halting the flights, Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni said the decision was based on the situation risk assessment by Kenya’s Ministry of Health.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said a ban imposed on those coming to Kenya from West Africa did not apply to Kenyans.



