The Trans Africa Tourism & Unity Campaign has suspended its planned road trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, following the confirmation of the country’s first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease.
In a statement issued in Kampala, Uganda, and signed by Ras Mubarak, the Lead Campaigner and former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the group said the decision was taken in the interest of public health and safety after Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health confirmed the outbreak on November 14.
The disease, a highly fatal hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, has so far been detected in Jinka town in the South Ethiopia Region, with nine cases and three deaths recorded.
The campaign, which is advocating for a visa-free Africa, had been scheduled to arrive in Addis Ababa on Friday, November 21.
However, Ras Mubarak announced that the team has now aborted that leg of the journey and revised its travel itinerary.
“This change of plan is due to the health risks associated with the ongoing outbreak. The inconvenience caused to countries originally scheduled to be visited is deeply regretted,” the statement said.
Under the new route, the team will move through Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Cameroon—countries they had already passed through—before heading to Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.
They will then return to Ghana via Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.
The group appealed for cooperation from authorities in all countries along the revised route as they continue their advocacy for free movement across the continent.
