Kinshasa, 16 October 2026 – Of the US$962 million that donors say they disbursed for the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, barely more than US$200 million could be traced to the organisations fighting the epidemic on the ground. More than US$700 million remain unaccounted for. The finding was presented on Wednesday 14 October in Kinshasa by the Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, who denounced a lack of transparency in how the funds are tracked.
The figures
- US$962 million reported disbursed by donors to implementing partners;
- fewer than 30% of these partners attended the verification meeting held by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP);
- about US$200 million traced among the partners who attended;
- about US$100 million of these funds were reportedly never used and are still held by some partners;
- more than US$700 million whose destination is still to be established.
A verification most partners stayed away from
According to Dr Kaseya, the gap came to light through a verification carried out with the Congolese health authorities. Donors provided precise data showing the disbursement of US$962 million; the INSP then called the implementing partners together to trace the funds. Fewer than one in three answered the call.
“Donors gave us precise evidence that US$962 million was disbursed to implementing partners. At the meeting held to trace these funds, fewer than 30% of the partners took part. Among them, we could trace only a little over US$200 million. We were also told that about US$100 million still exists and has never been used. This means these funds are still held by some partners.”
Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General, Africa CDC
“We will not let go”
For the head of Africa CDC, the question is not the US$200 million already identified, but the roughly US$700 million that has not been clearly traced. He announced that the investigations will continue, to establish where the remaining funds went and to obtain more accountability from the organisations concerned.
“I am talking about the difference between the US$962 million announced by donors and the amounts reported by the partners who attended this meeting. That is more than US$700 million to look for. These funds exist and we will keep up this fight. I can tell you that we will not let go.”
Dr Jean Kaseya
What CERC is calling for
Every dollar of emergency aid that does not reach health centres is a dollar taken from patients. The Centre de Recherche sur l’Anti-Corruption (CERC) welcomes the work of Africa CDC and the INSP, and calls for:
- the publication, partner by partner, of the amounts received, spent and remaining for each Ebola response;
- the partners who stayed away from the verification to present their accounts to the INSP and Africa CDC, by a set deadline;
- the swift reallocation of the roughly US$100 million never used to the health zones and health centres that need it;
- an independent audit of the response funds, with its results made public;
- communities to take part in the monitoring: with HealthCheck, citizens can report, anonymously, what their health centre actually lacks.
These statements reopen the debate on transparency and accountability in the management of international funding for health emergencies in the DRC, a country that has faced several major epidemics in recent decades. It is one of the areas of our 2027–2030 strategy: health centres that receive what is meant for them, everywhere.
Source: statements by Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, at a press conference in Kinshasa on Wednesday 14 October 2026.