A senior member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s ruling party was beaten to death on Sunday after appearing on a radio programme to raise awareness about the Ebola outbreak, a party representative said.
Marie‑Celestin Karondwa, the acting president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party’s federal executive committee in Butembo, was attacked after taking part in a radio show during which he promoted prevention measures for the disease. The party said the attackers beat Karondwa, stole his belongings and set his house on fire, and that he later died from his injuries. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, how many people were involved or what motivated it, but the party said Karondwa was an innocent victim for having defended the party’s position on the existence of the Ebola virus disease and the threat it poses to the population.
Karondwa’s death comes after a series of attacks on healthcare workers and treatment centres that experts say are fuelled by rumours and misinformation about the disease and distrust of health responders. The incidents have included violence, riots and property damage and the disruption of essential services. On Saturday, armed men attacked a hand‑washing checkpoint in the nearby Beni territory, killing at least one person and wounding several others, a local civil society group reported.
The current outbreak, first announced on 15 May, is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. It has infected 8 067 people and killed 3 901, according to data from the DRC’s health ministry. Cases have been confirmed in seven provinces. The outbreak is the largest and deadliest in the DRC’s history and second only globally to the 2014‑16 West African outbreak, which infected more than 28 600 people and killed more than 11 000. Data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention show the current outbreak has outpaced the West African one, and the World Health Organization warned it was on track to surpass that outbreak. Experts say the spread of the disease has been intensified by conflict, aid cuts and the attacks on healthcare workers and treatment centres.
