High Court ordered the state on Thursday, December 3 to refund money collected from people forced into Covid-19 quarantine centres.
The court ruled that it was illegal to hold Kenyans in the quarantine areas without court orders.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe had on Tuesday, March 22 announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all incoming travellers and those who may have been in contact with them.
This came after the government banned all international flights in and out of the country, excluding cargo flights.
The government had earlier noted that travellers at the airport could choose between paying to stay in a hotel or staying without charge in a government quarantine facility.
The mandatory quarantine was, however, marred by chaos as the people placed in quarantine complained of poor conditions that included lack of bedding, water, food, and cleaning supplies, including soaps and detergents.
The government is yet to reveal how much it collected from the quarantine facilities across the country with some reports indicating that those quarantined parted with about Ksh28,000 for the 14 days quarantine.
An announcement was earlier made that those quarantined in government facilities would not have to pay for anything but they were soon slapped with bills.
Human Rights Watch, Kenya Human Rights Commission, and Journalists for Justice back in March wrote to Kagwe, requesting information on the abuses in quarantine centres
Back in April, a number of people were filmed escaping from quarantine at the Kenya Medical Training College to evade the government-imposed 14-day quarantine.
The National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus (NERCC), chaired by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on Sunday, May 3, directed that curfew defaulters be placed in designated police quarantine facilities that were to be set up.
