Congo police detain former health minister in Ebola funds probe

Police in Congo have detained Former Minister of Health Oly Ilunga amid an investigation into the use of Ebola funds from foreign donors, they stated Saturday. The arrest comes as confirmed Ebola deaths have risen to nearly 2,000, and confirmed cases of the virus have exceeded 3,000 in the sprawling African nation.

Ilunga resigned in July to protest President Flix Tshisekedi's decision to take over from him the management of the response to the world's second deadliest Ebola outbreak, which is ongoing now in eastern Congo. As he resigned, Ilunga deplored the lack of co-operation between him, the president and the prime minister in response to the deadly Ebola outbreak.

Police said Saturday that Ilunga had been arrested less than a month ago for misdemeanor offencesinvolving the mishandling of funds, though he was later released. He has since made plans to travel to the neighbouring Republic of Congo, they said, adding that he was taken into custody to make sure he would not avoid legal proceedings.

They further statedIlunga was in police custody, and would come before aprosecutor on Sept. 16.

Congo's National Ebola Response Committee released the latest Ebola numbers Friday after a discussion in Goma by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church about efforts to help stem the spread of Ebola in communities. A mistrust of health workers and widespread security issues still threaten the fight against the Ebola outbreak in a region where armed groups have fought for decades over the mineral-rich land.

Foreign donors have so far provided roughly $200million infunding to the Ebola response over the past year, but the UnitedNations has said hundreds of millions of dollars more areneeded.

The committee reported there were 3,002 confirmed Ebola cases with 1,974 confirmed deaths.

The World Health Organization said Friday they recorded 40 new cases of Ebola the lowest weekly incidence of Ebola since March 2019 but said it was unclear if this positive trend would continue.