Burundi expels WHO official from country

Burundi is kicking out the World Health Organization’s top official in the country just days before the presidential election and after the WHO raised concerns about crowded political rallies. Report informs citing The Washington Post.

A foreign ministry letter seen by The Associated Press says the WHO representative to Burundi, Walter Kazadi Mulombo, has been declared persona non grata and must leave the East African nation by Friday. The letter says three WHO experts also must go.

The letter does not explain the expulsions. Reached by phone and asked for details, Foreign Minister Ezechiel Nibigira hung up Thursday morning. The WHO representative, Mulombo, did not immediately respond to phone calls.

The day that election campaigning in Burundi began late last month, images circulated online of crowded political rallies with President Pierre Nkurunziza in attendance. The head of the WHO Africa region messaged the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about it, the Africa CDC chief has said.

Burundi has 27 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, but some citizens and others have raised concerns that more exist. Authorities have been accused of downplaying the virus and relying on divine protection, while rights groups have alleged squalid conditions and lack of access to quarantine facilities.

Burundi is using virus restrictions to limit election observers, however, telling the East African regional bloc that any arriving foreigners would face a 14-day quarantine. The election is on May 20.