Two Guinean Ebola committee members jailed for embezzlement

Two senior members of the Guinean National Ebola Coordination Committee have been handed 5 and 18 months prison sentences.

The two were charged with embezzlement of 529 million Guinean francs, about 60,000 euros, granted by the World Health Organization.

The funds were meant for educating traditional healers on the dangers of the Ebola virus.

The trial followed a complaint lodged by the federation of traditional healers of Guinea against the National Ebola Coordination Committee in 2015.

Apart from Guinea, officials in Sierra Leone are also alleged to have misused funds intended for fighting the Ebola epidemic.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia were hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak. The three countries have now been declared Ebola-free.

News Agencies