The divorce between the State of Burundi and the World Health Organization (WHO). President Pierre Nkurunziza invited WHO experts to leave the country by 15 May 2020. A note verbale dated 12 May, signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo the representative of the World Health Organization stationed in Bujumbura, the capital.
This unprecedented government decision is not just about Dr.Walter Kazadi Mulombo. Three other experts from the local WHO office are also targeted by this measure: Dr Jean-Pierre Mulunda Nkata, coordinator of the response to the new coronavirus in Burundi and Dr. Ruhana Mirindi Bisimwa, who is responsible for the communicable disease program, and a consultant, Professor Daniel Tarzy, who is an expert in molecular biology.The country would accuse them of unacceptable interference in its management of the coronavirus.
The Ministry “has the honour to convey to (your) knowledge that the persons whose names below are declared “persona non grata” and that, therefore, they must leave the territory of Burundi before 15 May 2020,” is it written in the official note verbale.
As a reminder, the Burundian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already initiated the same procedure against these four international officials. An approach that has been suspended. These expulsions take place as the country prepares for the presidential, legislative and municipal elections on 20 May 2020.
If the electoral campaign should allow a democratic alternation and see President Pierre Nkurunziza now retire, maintaining and organizing this crucial election, have been much criticized by the medical profession on the one hand and the opposition leaders on the other.Some speak of a lack of preventive measures in the face of the health crisis: for them, the actions taken by the government to fight the virus, are far from sufficient. Only the closure of the borders but also of the airport were enacted with a ban on international flights.
that is another necessity to curb the spread of the virus has not been decreed by the government when all the neighbouring countries have already adopted it. For the opposition, maintaining these elections that promote public gatherings is an irresponsible decision. They also accuse the government of hiding the actual number of people infected with coronavirus. The country has reported 27 positive cases, including one death.
The note verbale of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
The deconfinement
