Today in Africa — October 16, 2026: More Than $700 Million in DR Congo Ebola Response Funds Is Unaccounted For, 200 People Found Chained at South African Rehab Center

Kaseya said donors gave about $962 million to groups carrying out the response, not to the government. Only about a third of those partners attended a recent health ministry meeting and shared financial data, reporting $228 million received, $127 million spent, and roughly $100 million still available.

Health minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said aid groups must give his ministry details on funding sources, goals, and implementation. Kaseya warned that non-compliant groups could be barred from working in DR Congo and blacklisted across Africa.

Two cases are confirmed in North Ubangi, though Congolese authorities have not officially announced them. A health official there said a series of suspect deaths in a mining area in Wapinda health zone, near the Bas-Uele border, prompted lab testing in the province and in Kinshasa.

Kenya reported its third Ebola case today, Friday, October 16, a 65-year-old woman closely related to the first two patients. She had been in quarantine since October 6, was isolated after developing fever, sore throat, and malaise, and is receiving supportive care. The ministry says the second patient is stable and there is no evidence of spread in the wider community.

Kenyan authorities have reached 127 of the 130 known contacts of the first patient, all of whom were quarantined, and are tracing the other three. The case has raised concerns about screening lapses, since the first patient crossed the DR Congo-Uganda border, which has been closed since May, and passed through Nairobi’s main airport.

A 16-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were kept in the same room as adults. The group, mostly believed to be drug addicts, was found in crowded rooms without functioning bathrooms or running water.

Gift Skhosana, who was held at the facility, told Newzroom Afrika that chaining patients as punishment and on entry was "common practice." He said the facility still helped him get clean and overcome his addiction, while another person who was not named said the experience left him needing mental health help.

The couple charged 3,000 rand ($182) a month to house each patient, and almost half went to the church.

Fourteen people have been taken to hospital for further treatment, and officials say 132 have been reunited with their families.

Illegal rehabilitation centers have multiplied in South Africa as drug use rises. Last year, the Department of Social Development said it had found over 100 unlawful facilities nationwide, mostly in Gauteng province.

The Washington Post reports that investigators are looking at whether Omar or her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misrepresented her date of birth in immigration documents. Records list her birth year as either 1981 or 1982, which could affect whether she qualified for citizenship through her father's naturalization while legally a minor.

Authorities are also examining whether her father accurately disclosed his previous military service when applying for legal status in the U.S.

A previous Department of Homeland Security review of similar allegations during former President Joe Biden's administration reportedly found insufficient grounds to pursue a case.

Washington's U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, confirmed an investigation into Omar's financial disclosures. She said on Fox News, "If there was a crime that was committed, it will be prosecuted." President Donald Trump told reporters that he had "nothing to do" with the search and that it was up to the Justice Department.

Omar's family fled Somalia in 1991, and she spent four years at Kenya's Utange Refugee Camp before settling in Minnesota. She became a U.S. citizen in 2000 and in 2018 became the first Somali American and first African refugee elected to Congress, representing Minnesota's Fifth District. She has often clashed with Trump over immigration, refugee protections, racial discrimination, and foreign policy.