Kinshasa (AFP)

Former Health Minister Oly Ilunga was heard by Congolese courts on Tuesday in a survey on the use of public funds in the fight against the Ebola epidemic that killed nearly 2,000 people in a year in the Republic Democratic Republic of Congo.

"This Tuesday, Dr. Oly Ilunga, former Minister of Health, was interviewed by the Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation, the instruction is ongoing and he has confidence in the justice of his country," said his lawyer, Guy Kabeya.

"He left free," told AFP a judicial source.

Three of his ex-collaborators, "including a doctor", were placed in custody, adds this source, which confirms information from Radio Top Congo.

Dr. Ilunga was heard "as part of an investigation into the management of large government funds for the Ebola response," according to another judicial source.

"This is a preliminary investigation, there is no reason to worry, it is not under arrest," added the second source.

- Second vaccine -

Appointed in December 2016, Mr. Ilunga resigned on July 22nd. He felt disavowed by the President of the Republic Felix Tshisekedi, who had removed the conduct of the response against Ebola.

The head of state has entrusted the coordination to Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the Congolese Institute of Biomedical Research of Kinshasa (INRB).

The former minister also opposed the introduction of a second vaccine "by actors who have demonstrated a manifest lack of ethics." The minister opposed in a circular to the introduction of this second vaccine of the Belgian laboratory Janssen, subsidiary of the American Johnson & Johnson.

A total of 205,321 people have been vaccinated, according to the Congolese authorities, according to which the only valid vaccine is "rVSV-ZEBOV manufactured by the pharmaceutical group (US) Merck".

The tenth Ebola epidemic on Congolese soil has killed 1,990 people since it was declared in the eastern part of the country on 1 August, the "National Multisectoral Response Committee" said in its Monday report.

"We are now in control of the situation on the ground, it is not under control yet," Dr. Muyembe told reporters on Tuesday.

"There is a lot hope that things will get a lot better in the days to come," he added, thanking China for helping 60 tons of protective equipment and laboratory products.

© 2019 AFP