Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested a former health minister over alleged mismanagement of funds allocated for the Ebola epidemic.
The former health minister, Oly Ilunga resigned in July after being stripped of responsibility for the fight against Ebola, he has now been taken into custody amid concerns he planned to flee, police say.
Police said they detained him because they had information that he intended to evade legal proceedings and leave the country.
In his July resignation letter, Dr Ilunga criticised the World Health Organization’s plan to use an unlicensed vaccine against Ebola.
In a statement on Saturday, the national police said Oly Ilunga Kalenga was detained because they believed he planned to evade legal proceedings by leaving the country.
“Unfortunately, police received information about his disappearance with a view to reaching Congo-Brazzaville,” the police’s press service said, referring to the neighbouring Congo Republic.
It said Ilunga was in police custody and was likely to face a prosecutor on Monday. His lawyers declined immediate comment, the Reuters news agency reported.
Earlier this month, his lawyers said he had been questioned by police about his role in managing the Ebola response. They denied any wrongdoing by Ilunga.
