Eteni Longondo

Eteni Longondo is a Congolese doctor and politician. He is a Member of the UDPS, and was the former Minister of Health in the Sylvestre Ilunga government from September 2019 to August 2021.

Early life and education Born on January 10, 1965 in Kinshasa, Eteni Longondo studied general medicine at the University of Kinshasa. He became the team physician for the Zaire national football team, then went to Swaziland to become a general practitioner. He then studied public health at University of Washington, and decided to stay in the US to work in the public health department of Seattle.

Longondo also worked in several international organizations during his career, such as World Vision, Mercy Corps, Samaritan's Purse, Save the Children and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

As Minister of Health, he inherited the management of two major health crises: an Ebola epidemic, one of the most serious the country has known, as well as an epidemic of measles.

From March 2020, he manages the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. Criticisms concerning the management of the resources allocated to the fight against the epidemic emerged in June 2020. Congolese microbiologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe of the INRB, which is in charge of the response, announced having received barely more than a million dollars, while the government had officially spent more than 27 million to fight against the epidemic. In a press release published on June 21, Eteni Longondo made public a report on the management of these funds by his ministry. The minister explained this delay by erroneous lists, which would have been inflated with the names of agents not participating in the response.

Accusations of embezzlement In July 2020, Longondo was accused of embezzlement. On July 3, the deputy PPRD François Nzekuye denounced, in a written question, the “catastrophic management” of the ministry, and accused Longondo of having set up a system of kickbacks. He also suspected him of having circulated expired drugs. Jules Alingete Key, Inspector General of Finance, then launched an audit at the ministry. In response to these accusations, Eteni Longondo announced an intention to file a complaint against X for defamation. Doctors subsequently demonstrated to demand the resignation of the minister, accusing him of "embezzlement"

On August 27, 2021, Eteni Longondo was placed under a provisional arrest warrant, following a hearing at the public prosecutor's office at the Court of Cassation in Kinshasa.

On August 31, 2021, Eteni Longondo was released on bail during a hearing before the council chamber of the Kinshasa Gombe tribunal de grande instance. This was granted to him after a two-week deliberation.

Acquittal of accusations of embezzlement On June 7, 2023, Longondo was acquitted by the Court of Cassation. It was concluded by them that there was no incriminating evidence of the COVID funds fraud.

In 2024, he opposed the leadership of Augustin Kabuya , Secretary General at the head of the UDPS, whom he accused of mismanagement, thus creating conflict within the presidential party. He wrote public a letter to the party in June of that year to request a reorganization of the party. He was supported in this initiative by around thirty national secretaries, who wrote a joint press release on July 11, demanding the dismissal of the Secretary General. Augustin Kabuya, criticized Eteni Longondo's initiative during various meetings, believing that the critique would be used by enemies of the President in order to intentionally sow chaos in his party.