Anti-Ebola kits sold on black market in Guinea

At the Marché Madina in Conakry, a woman sells bottles of blue chlorine and antiseptic products, normally distributed by NGOs. Photo taken by Tinkisso-Antenna in early November. Face blurred by France 24.

Over the past few months, the fruit and clothes sold at Conakry’s Madina market have been joined by health kits, chlorine, bedpans and gloves, to help protect against the Ebola virus gripping the country. But if you take a closer look, you’ll see that the products that end up on the market are those that are normally distributed by NGOs, free of charge, to those most in need.

On November 13 and 14, our Guinean Observers in Conakry visited the Madina market, where several Guinean press reports have reported on the unlawful sale of medical supplies designed to fight against Ebola. In particular, some clients noticed that blue chlorine bottles were being sold, though their labels bore the Unicef logo and the words “Not for sale”.

Among conventional chlorine bottles, you can find bottles with labels reading “Unicef” and “Not for sale”. Photo taken at the end of September and sent to us by Nouhou Baldé of Guinéematin.com

Beside the bottles, our Observers tell us that gloves, masks and even bedpans - usually distributed in the poorest districts - have also found their way to the markets.

“Even my neighbour is reselling chlorine bottles”

Fatoumata Binta Diallo is a journalism student who lives in Conakry. Over the past few days, she has scoured the markets.

This trafficking is a widespread phenomenon; one of my neighbours even has an entire stock of Unicef chlorine bottles and is reselling them cheaply in my area. She doesn’t realize that the bottles are not supposed to be sold: from her point of view, she bought them legally and so has to resell them in order to make a living.

The trafficking is taking place because demand for chlorine has exploded: the price of a bottle has gone up from 3,000 to 5,000 Guinean francs since the start of the year [from 35 to 60 Euro cents]. Here in Conakry, a lot of people say, “Ebola will make us rich”. Unfortunately, it’s not a new phenomenon: in the past, hygienic supplies, like soap distribute in schools, regularly ended up in the markets of Conakry.

Amidst handkerchiefs and biscuits, bottles of chlorine with the Unicef logo are being sold for 5,000 Guinean francs (around 60 Euro cents). Photo by Tinkisso.

“Vendors, who are often illiterate, are victims of this system”

Most of the products, and particularly bottles of chlorine, are manufactured locally by social enterprise organisations. One of them, Tinkisso-Antenna, has been working with Unicef since 2008 to improve access to clean drinking water. Since 2012, it has been producing bottles of chlorine for the UN agency in its factory of 80 employees.

These bottles are bought by Unicef at a discounted price of 3,300 Guinean francs (less than 38 Euro cents) instead of the 4,000 to 5,000 Guinean francs that they usually cost (50 to 60 Euro cents). Unicef then sends them free of charge to local representatives in the poorest areas of Conakry. According to Aboubacar Camara, coordinator of the Tinkisso-Antenna project in Guinea, it’s at this level that trafficking happens.

Unicef sends the chlorine bottles to the heads of districts by default, or to local organisations who have taken part in initiatives to raise awareness about Ebola. But recently, we have noticed that these intermediaries are often ghost NGOs in the context of the Ebola epidemic. These organisations distribute the majority of their stocks properly, but keep some boxes, which they then sell at unbeatable prices: 150,000 Guinean francs (17 euros) for a box of 60 bottles, instead of 300,000 Guinean francs (35 euros). [Editor’s Note: Doctor Sékouba Keita, national coordinator of the struggle against Ebola in Guinea, declared at the end of September that he’d had enough of NGOs created to profit from the “Ebola business”.] In theory, everyone wins: the vendor, who has bought stock cheaply, and the intermediary, who got hold of these bottles without spending a penny.”

These ghost NGOs usually deal with vendors who cannot read and are unaware that not only is reselling these products illegal, but they are also selling products designed to reach those most in need. When stocks are discovered by the authorities, the vendors are considered responsible. They run the risk of being temporarily detained and having their stocks seized.

Tinkisso and Unicef have led several field and advertising campaigns to spread the message that their chlorine bottles should not be sold.

Seven heads of districts arrested last week for the illegal trafficking of hygiene products

For the moment, the law does not outline any punishment for the sale of the kits. Vendors found in possession of these stocks generally spend a few hours in custody before being released. When contacted by FRANCE 24, Mohammed Ag Ayoya, Unicef’s representative in Conakry, explained:

The main problem is finding out which intermediaries have resold our kits: to this end, we have just put in place a system of using different bottle caps for each intermediary. This will allow us to trace back up the chain and identify the culprits.

A few offenders have already been identified: last week, the governor of Conakry sacked seven heads of districts accused of corruption and the sale of hygiene products.

Photo taken by Fatoumata Binta Diallo at the Madina market in Conakry.

Post was written with FRANCE 24 journalist Alexandre Capron (@alexcapron).