KINSHASA — Africa’s top public health agency and Congolese health authorities say more than $700 million of donor money for the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo has yet to be accounted for, Reuters reported.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said international donors disbursed about $962 million directly to organizations implementing Ebola response work in Congo, rather than to the government.
Only about a third of those partners attended a recent verification meeting called by Congo’s health ministry, Kaseya said. Those that did reported receiving $228 million, of which $127 million had been spent and roughly $100 million remained available, according to Reuters.
Kaseya told Reuters it was too early to speak of embezzlement, describing the gap instead as a major transparency and financial reporting failure that left authorities without a full picture of what had been mobilized and spent. He warned that non-compliant organizations could be barred from working in Congo and blacklisted across Africa.
Congo’s health minister, Samuel-Roger Kamba, echoed the concerns on X, saying aid groups are required to provide his ministry with details of funding sources, goals and progress. Reuters noted that mistrust of health workers remains a key obstacle to containing the outbreak, and that past Ebola responses in Congo were dogged by allegations of favoritism and corruption.
Sources: Reuters, CNBC Africa, Nairametrics
—
