14th May, 2020
Burundi government has kicked out the national head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and three members of his team during a presidential election campaign despite health risks from the coronavirus pandemic.
The government confirmed on Thursday that a May 12 letter from the foreign ministry was sent to WHO country head Walter Kazadi Mulombo and three others of the U.N. body’s health experts, ordering them out by Friday.
An election is due on May 20, to vote for a successor to President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose government has been repeatedly accused of rights violations.
Bernard Ntahiraja, the foreign affairs assistant minister, confirmed the WHO officials had been declared “persona non grata” but did not give reasons.
During Burundi’s election campaign, large crowds have been gathering despite strict lockdowns and social-distance rules elsewhere in Africa and around the world.
Burundi has so far reported a relatively low caseload of the COVID-19 disease: 27 infections and one death.