Ebola responders protest in eastern Congo over unpaid salaries

The strike began early Wednesday at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the capital of the eastern Ituri province and the epicenter of the current outbreak, where the protesters erected barricades and burnt tires around the health facility, according to Eugene Luyeye, a local official.

The protesters complained that they have been working for several weeks without receiving their salaries and bonuses, while they are exposed to the virus on a daily basis, the official told reporters in Bunia.

Social media footage showed frontline workers, including hygiene workers, surveillance officers, sensitizers and other responders holding banners, blowing whistles and chanting slogans, demanding their payments.

“We risk our lives every day to save the population, but we are abandoned. We work without being paid while our families suffer. We are simply asking that our rights be respected,” a protester said.

It was the second strike in a row after healthcare workers in nearby Rwampara, another affected town, launched a strike over similar grievances, according to local media.

The strike came about two weeks after the country’s Health Minister Roger Kamba, promised that arrangements were underway for the payment of the health workers engaged in the Ebola response during his last visit to Bunia.

The protesters demanded the provision of personal protective equipment to reduce exposure, and granted a 72-hour ultimatum to the government to meet their demands.

Health authorities in Congo have been battling the current Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus since May 15.

The latest situation update on Wednesday showed that confirmed cases of Ebola in the country have reached 2,011, including 754 deaths.

The epidemic has affected five provinces, including Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Haut-Uele.

Civil society leader in Rwampara, Ituri, Isaac Nyakulinda, expressed concern about the consequences of the strike on disease surveillance, patient care and other essential interventions to contain the spread of the virus.