The Democratic Republic of the Congo is reserving Ebola field interventions for organisations holding accreditation, Health Minister Roger Kamba announced on Thursday 15 October to the Congolese Press Agency (ACP).
According to the minister, 25 of the 97 structures involved in the response have answered the government's call and may apply for this authorisation. To obtain it, organisations must justify how they use their funding and allow its destination to be tracked, he explained.
The decision comes as Africa CDC demands an accounting of more than 700 million dollars for which the Congolese authorities do not have sufficient financial information. In a statement dated 15 October, the African Union's public health agency says that nearly 962 million dollars were disbursed directly to international organisations and NGOs responsible for the response, not to the Congolese government.
Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya told Reuters on Thursday that it was premature to speak of diversion. He described a lack of transparency preventing the authorities from having a full picture of the resources mobilised and spent.
The agency says it will work with the government to reconcile information from donors and beneficiary organisations. It will support administrative or regulatory measures taken against organisations that continue to refuse to report, which could go as far as withdrawing their authorisation to operate.
This reconciliation must identify, for each organisation, the sums received, the expenditure incurred, the resources still available and the activities funded.