Challenges to Combating COVID-19 in Central Africa
Douala / N’Djamena / Paris / Washington
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the true cost of kleptocracy in Central Africa. While the virus spared no region, it found a particularly fragile host in countries where decades of corruption had already decimated public health systems.
In Cameroon, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, and Equatorial Guinea, resources intended for healthcare, sanitation, and emergency relief were siphoned into the personal bank accounts of ruling elites. The result: an outsized death toll, decaying infrastructure, and a citizenry left to fend for itself.
What Happened Across Central Africa?
- Brazzaville, Congo
The regime used curfews not to enforce health measures, but to allow looting by security forces in exchange for loyalty. A journalist was even banned from national TV for asking uncomfortable questions about COVID patient care. - N’Djamena, Chad
Chadian authorities catastrophically mismanaged the pandemic. Embezzled funds and dysfunctional health systems left millions unprotected. - Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
A nurse was jailed for speaking out. Two patients died after being turned away from hospitals. Meanwhile, the Vice President spent more on a luxury car than the government did on pandemic response. - Yaoundé, Cameroon
Even as cases surged, the government reopened bars and restaurants. Airlines resumed flights with no containment strategy in place. - Secrecy and Looting of COVID-19 Funds
Across these regimes, transparency was absent. No one knows where the emergency funds went—be it international aid or private donations. Ministries and officials operated behind closed doors, leaving civil society and citizens in the dark. - A Pattern of Kleptocracy
COVID-19 merely spotlighted an ongoing pattern: elites enriching themselves at the expense of the population’s most basic needs—running water, healthcare, education, and freedom.
Who We Are
The Central African Coalition Against Kleptocracy is a network of civic organizations working to expose and dismantle kleptocracy in the region. We shine a light on under-reported stories and believe that public accountability begins with truth-telling.
