By Semafor Africa
Global aid groups, including the UN, are facing questions over more than $700 million in potentially unaccounted funds donated to deal with the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 4,600 people in DR Congo.
Confusion around the money has raised questions around transparency and accountability in funding the response to public health crises amid widespread cuts to Western aid budgets.
Africa CDC, the continental body coordinating the response to the spread of the virus, accused the international organizations of not respecting Congolese sovereignty. It threatened to withdraw its permission to work in the country if they failed to comply with requirements to report funding to the government.
DR Congo is recording fewer daily Ebola cases and deaths than a month ago, but the outbreak is spreading to new provinces, a UN official told Semafor. Nigeria has recorded a case of a woman who had traveled from Uganda, and Kenya has now confirmed nine infections.