Credit: mediacongo.net
Via mediacongo.net: Beni: 3 health centers, partners in the Ebola response, ransacked. The Google translation:
During the demonstrations held this Friday, December 28 in the city of Beni, 3 health centers partners in the response to Ebola were ransacked, including two burned by angry protesters.
After looting mattresses and other medical equipment, protesters burned the premises that house these health facilities in the municipality of Mulekera. The police arrived too late at the scene of the tragedy.
Already, on Thursday, December 27, the transit center for patients with suspected symptoms of Ebola has been ransacked by other protesters, causing the escape of people potentially affected by the disease, with all the risk of contamination.
The population is angry with the CENI decision to postpone the elections in Beni, Butembo and Yumbi, particularly following the Ebola epidemic in Beni. This CENI decision provoked a renewal of the mistrust of the population towards the response teams, whereas it was already beginning to cooperate before this decision was made by the CENI.
Oxfam suspends response to the Ebola virus
In addition, the NGO Oxfam says it is forced to suspend its operations in the areas of Beni and Butembo ravaged by the Ebola virus, because of violent demonstrations after the announcement of the Ceni according to which the inhabitants of these cities could not vote for a new president, while the rest of the country goes to the polls this Sunday.
Raphael Mbuyi, acting country director for Oxfam in the DRC, said: "This is a very worrying situation because the Ebola response has been suspended each time before we have seen a sharp increase in the number of people living there. new cases. This could mean that the Ebola virus would spread to an even larger number of people and potentially to other countries in the region, putting many lives at risk.
"However, it is not surprising that people who have been stripped of their vote at the last minute are frustrated and take to the streets. These people deserve to have their say. Whatever the outcome, we must put an end to the years of misery that the people of this country have had to endure. It is not because elections are held that peace reigns."
