A spectre is haunting Kinshasa, the sprawling capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Not the spectre of communism, but of Ebola, a viral foe that has plagued the nation for decades. In a decisive move that echoes the city's pandemic playbook from the Covid-19 era, the government has banned all mass gatherings in the city.
The announcement came late Tuesday, catching many off guard as the confirmed death toll from a new outbreak in the country's northwest nudges past 20. The epicentre is Mbandaka, a bustling river port some 600 kilometres upstream, but the capital's vulnerability is acute. Kinshasa is a megacity of 15 million people, a tangle of markets, schools, churches and football matches where social distancing is a cruel joke.
The ban is a brutal but necessary algorithm for containment. It prioritises the system over individual freedom, a choice that will be familiar to anyone watching the spread of infectious diseases in our hyperconnected world. The World Health Organisation has already deployed a team, and vaccines are being rushed to the region.
But the real challenge is data. Can the authorities track and trace effectively in a city where many residents live in informal settlements without digital identity? The user experience of society here is one of resilience and scarcity.
The ban on gatherings will hit the informal economy hard. Street vendors, religious congregations and community networks are the social fabric of Kinshasa. By cutting them, the government risks fraying the trust that is essential for public health compliance.
Technology could help. Mobile phone data can map population movements, and AI can predict outbreak hotspots. But the DR Congo's digital sovereignty is limited, and the ethical questions around surveillance are thorny.
Is it acceptable to trade privacy for safety in a country where the state's reach is uneven? The answer is not clear. Black Mirror fans will recognise the dilemma.
We have the tools to build a fortress against Ebola, but they come with costs. The real breakthrough will be when we develop solutions that are both effective and respectful of human dignity. Until then, Kinshasa holds its breath, a city on the edge of a digital and biological precipice.
