Dr. Jean Kaseya, the Congolese national that supposedly was elected as the new Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa-CDC) during the African Union Assembly on February 19, has continued to expose himself as a fraud, and that indeed his election to the position was fraudulent.
It has emerged that a year before his appointment by the AU, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) decided not to renew Kaseya’s contract as senior country director in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the man was involved in high-profile scandals in the organization.
In early February, Kaseya took the organization to the Congolese labor court. After he suddenly rose to power and prominence, thanks to his high-profile global appointment, Kaseya decided to use his power and influence against his former employer for not renewing his contract. Details of his misconduct and aggressive behavior towards senior leaders of the organization have served to expose Kaseya’s personality and deficiency of integrity. This has also confirmed that his appointment was indeed irregular. The details reveal the complex and contentious nature of the relationship between Kaseya and his former employer and raise questions about the temperament of a man now charged with leading efforts to ensure the health of a continent of over 1 billion people.
Barely a week after Kaseya’s appointment to lead CDC Africa, he stormed into CHAI’s Kinshasa office, accompanied by heavily armed bodyguards- where he berated former superiors and colleagues for not giving him a farewell party. He also demanded to be given access to internal documents, which included minutes of the meeting during which the decision not to renew his contract was taken. The incident was deemed serious enough by CHAI that it was characterized as a “security breach.” Just over a month after this incident, Kaseya ordered the arrest of two CHAI senior employees who were accused of aiding a Rwandan national who was also an employee of CHAI to escape.
During the process of the election, which saw Kaseya appointed, the leaders were not allowed to debate on the issue as it is always the norm for similar proceedings at the Summit, even though leaders from three member states had requested to speak. Kaseya’s irregular appointment and his conduct after his appointment further raise questions about the implementation of the AU institutional reforms.