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Burundi Expels WHO Officials

VOA News

   Burundi has expelled four officials from the World Health Organization
   (WHO), declaring them persona non grata and ordering them to leave the
   country by Friday, a leaked memo from the country's foreign ministry
   reveals.

   The decision comes days before the May 20 presidential elections and
   amid a global coronavirus pandemic.

   Bernard Ntahiraja, the foreign affairs assistant minister, did not
   provide an explanation for the expulsion.

   The WHO's Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said that the
   organization "remain[s] very willing to...support their [Burundi's]
   response to COVID-19."

   John Nkengasong, the head of the African Centers for Disease Control
   and Prevention, said in a statement that he found the decision to hold
   elections in a time of the COVID-19 crisis irresponsible.

   "We have to collectively deny the virus any space to transmit," he
   said.

   Opposition candidate Léonce Ngendakumana said the expulsion is
   "regrettable" and called upon the government to heed recommended health
   and safety precautions.

   "The country alone won't be able to contain the pandemic," Ngendakmana
   said.

   The expelled officials include WHO country head Walter Kazadi Mulombo,
   field epidemiologist Jean Pierre Mulunda Nkata, health sector
   coordinator Ruhana Mirindi Bisimwa, and Daniel Tarzy.

   Burundi has only 27 reported cases of COVID-19, but health officials
   suspect cases are on the rise due to the lack of testing and lockdown
   measures, the CDC said.

   Critics accuse the government of downplaying the virus in order to
   temper rising civil unrest, fearing a repeat of the violence that
   occurred after the 2015 election of current president Pierre
   Nkurunziza.

   In 2019, Burundi expelled United Nations officials who investigated the
   violence after the 2015 vote. The country also left the International
   Criminal Court after facing charges of state-sponsored crime.