Marie-Célestin Karondwa died from her injuries after being beaten on Sunday at her home in the town of Butembo, a hotbed of the Ebola epidemic.
Published on October 1, 2026
Mourners gathered in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to bury a local politician who his party says was beaten to death after he defended the government’s response to Ebola on the radio.
The funeral of Marie-Célestin Karondwa took place on Wednesday in the town of Butembo.
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Karondwa was attacked on Sunday at his home in Butembo, an Ebola hotbed in North Kivu province, according to his political party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDSP), which leads the DRC government. He died of his injuries at a local hospital.
“They beat him and then set the house on fire,” his granddaughter, Sagesse Kavira, told the Associated Press news agency at the funeral.
The party said Karondwa was “an innocent victim for defending the party’s position on the existence of Ebola… and the threat it poses to the population.”
It is not clear who carried out the attack, how many people participated or what motivated it.
The killing follows a series of attacks on health workers and others as the central African country battles its 17th and deadliest Ebola outbreak, which has so far recorded more than 8,000 cases, including nearly 4,000 deaths.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Researchers are testing potential candidates, the agency said.
The WHO said Ebola was present in the provinces of Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri, North Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Sud-Ubangi and Tshopo. Ituri remains the most affected region.
Authorities tried to combat the outbreak using a village approach, but some residents resisted, calling Ebola a hoax, amid deep distrust of the government.
Many believe the disease is a ruse by the authorities to siphon off money. Some refuse to report their symptoms due to disbelief or shame of having Ebola.
Responders say skepticism has complicated their work, especially in isolated communities and new hot spots that lack medical supplies and health personnel.
Distrust has been particularly difficult to overcome in rebel-held areas of eastern DRC, where decades of conflict and human rights abuses have left many residents distrustful of outsiders and state authorities.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said the east of the country faced “a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict” that was hampering the response.
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