A former health minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been jailed for five years for stealing more than $400,000 of funds meant to fight the Ebola epidemic.
Oly Ilunga was arrested last year by the Police for allegedly mismanaging funds allocated for the fight against Ebola.
Although Oly Ilunga denied any wrongdoing he resigned as health minister and criticized the World Health Organisation in his resignation letter.
Dr Ilunga and his financial advisor were both convicted of forging tens of thousands of dollars worth of receipts from a fake company.
The said forged receipts were used to justify purchases of products already paid for by international donors.
Both convicts also diverted money meant to pay for the transportation of life-saving items to Ebola hotspots.
More than 2,200 people died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of recent outbreak in 2018.
Although no new cases have been recorded in more than a month, the outbreak is yet to be declared over.
The worst Ebola epidemic was recorded between 2013-2016 in West Africa. More than 11,300 people died then out of 28,000 who were infected.
Source: Africafeeds.com
