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Pandemics and Biosecurity
21JUL

UDPS official beaten to death in Butembo

2 min read
09:12UTC

Marie-Célestin Karondwa, acting Butembo head of DR Congo's governing party, had spoken about Ebola prevention on local radio; who attacked him has not been established.

← Back to Ebola outruns its own contact tracingJump to analysis ↓
ScienceDeveloping
Key takeaway

A Butembo party official who spoke on Ebola prevention was killed; the motive is unknown.

Marie-Célestin Karondwa, acting Butembo president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), DR Congo's governing party, was attacked at his home on 27 September and died of his injuries, Al Jazeera reported, citing his party⁠1. He had spoken about Ebola prevention on local radio. Who attacked him, and why, has not been established.

Butembo, a trading city in North Kivu province, has become the focus of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak's move south. It was also the centre of community resistance in the 2018-2020 epidemic. Five health facilities in the city burned between 26 July and 1 September amid rumours about the response, Congo Quotidien reported⁠2.

Ebola control depends on people reporting fever, accepting isolation and allowing safe burials, and each of those steps needs trust in the teams asking. In May protesters torched a treatment centre elsewhere in the country's east, which then had to be rebuilt. A burned clinic also removes a place where a patient can be tested close to home.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Butembo is a busy trading city in eastern DR Congo, now at the centre of the Ebola outbreak. Many people there distrust the teams sent to fight the disease, partly because of past conflict and politics. In about five weeks this summer, five clinics in the city were set on fire after rumours about the Ebola response. In September, a local leader of the governing party, who had spoken on the radio about how to avoid Ebola, was beaten to death. Police have not said who killed him or why. Attacks like these make health workers' jobs more dangerous and can push sick people away from treatment.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Butembo's distrust has a long political history. The city and neighbouring Beni were excluded from the December 2018 presidential vote on Ebola grounds, which many residents read as political, and that memory attaches to every response measure.

Armed groups operate around Butembo and Beni, and killings there are frequent, so a death cannot be read as Ebola-related without evidence. The killing of a local official from the governing party adds a political layer to an already strained response.

The third factor is that, with 34% of confirmed patients outside Ebola wards, families see the response failing. When patients die on general wards or at home, families see the response failing them, and rumours of collusion fill the gap.

What could happen next?
  • Risk

    Further arson in Butembo would remove beds from the province where MSF already reports a third of confirmed patients outside Ebola units.

    Short term · Suggested
  • Consequence

    Local leaders may stop speaking publicly about Ebola prevention until the killing is explained.

    Immediate · Suggested
  • Risk

    Heavier security escorts for response teams could deepen distrust, as MSF argued in 2019.

    Short term · Suggested
Sources:Congo Quotidien·Al Jazeera
Mentions:Butembo →Union for Democracy and Social Progress →North Kivu →Al Jazeera →Guinea →DR Congo →Congo Quotidien →Ebola →Beni →Katwa →Bulengera →Womey →
First Reported In

Update #14 · River boat carries Ebola 1,000 km downriver

Congo Quotidien· 3 Oct 2026
Read original →
Causes and effects
Caused by
Ebola shifts south to DR Congo's Butembo
Violence in Butembo came as the city became the centre of new Ebola cases.
Occurred 23 Sept 2026
Read story →
This Event
UDPS official beaten to death in Butembo
The killing comes in the city now at the centre of DR Congo's Ebola outbreak, where five health facilities burned this summer.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.