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EBOLA
News Extra
VOL 8 NO.667
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
CENTRAL BANK OF LIBERIA
MARKET BUYING AND SELLING RATES
LIBERIAN DOLLARS PER US DOLLAR
These are indicative rates based on results of daily surveys of
the foreign exchange market in Monrovia and its environs. The
rates are collected from the Forex Bureaux and the commercials
banks. The rates are not set by the Central Bank of Liberia.
Source:
Research, Policy and Planning Department,
Central Bank Liberia,
Monrovia, Liberia
MONDAY, AUGUST 25 , 2014 L$83.00/US$1 L$84.00/US$1
BUYING SELLING
L$84.00/US$1 L$85.00/US$1
L$85.00/US$1 L$84.00/US$1
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2014
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2014
EBOLA - pg.5
Looming Spread of Deadly Ebola
Virus As a Single Family Loses 9
persons to deadly disease
EBOLA PATIENTS
GO HUNGRY
Right now the care that we really used to have we are not getting it again, like for
this morning, no doctor or nurse came to see us until 12 just because they did not
receive their pay, we have kids that were in there, that food could not reach them.
The nurses and doctors are the ones who bring our food to us, and if they are not
satisfed, it is not going to be easy.
EBOLA TRAGEDY
IN NIMBA
GO-SLOW
AT JFK
pg 6
p9

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Ebola Media Issues


EPA TAMPERS WITH
FRONTPAGEAFRICA PRODUCTION
Locks Newspapers Generator Room Over Nagging Martha
Belleh Claims, Newspapers Processing US$100 Million
Dollar Harassment Lawsuit
ROB SIRLEAF OFF TO US,
EUROPE TO BOOST EBOLA
AWARENESS, SUPPORT
Workers, nurses say they have
not been paid for August
SECURITY GETS HUGE DISBURSEMENT AS
Page 2 |
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Monrovia -
D
r. Amos Claudius Sawyer, the former head of the
erstwhile Interim Government of National Unity(IGNU)
which steered Liberia during a critical civil war period
from November 22, 1990March 7, 1994 says those
advocating and pressing for an interim government to replace the
current government headed by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf are
moving in the wrong direction and cannot count on his support to
carry out what he describes as a ridiculous plan.
Those folks who are calling for an interim government are moving
in the wrong direction and could never count on my support or that
of others who are committed to this agenda. My appeal is that we
all fnd a silver lining in this terrible (Ebola)epidemic to frst contain
it and then eradicate it so that we can move our country forward not
backward, Dr. Sawyer, who is also the head of the Governance
Reform Commission told FrontPageAfrica via email Monday.
Dr. Sawyer who is one of a handful of offcials recently granted
exemptions by President Sirleaf from her decision to dismiss
offcials who have fed the country in the wake of the deadly Ebola
virus outbreak, explained that he has been in the US since mid-July
attending to medical challenges. Having now sorted out return travel
issues in view of suspension and uncertainty in airline schedules, my
wife and I will be back on September 11th, Dr. Sawyer declared.
Dr. Sawyers dismissal of the idea of an interim government comes
in the wake of mounting push within the Liberian Diaspora for an
interim government in Liberia.
A FrontPageAfrica report Monday detailed a heightening social
media debate and a mounting Diaspora movement leading the charge
and building on the governments missteps in the ongoing Ebola
outbreak in Liberia.
The Sirleaf administration has been tightlipped on the issue but a
senior administration offcial told FrontPageAfrica that the President
has been briefed and is aware about the purported plan. This
administration is doing all it can and is focused now on the Ebola
crisis and has no time to chatter with political players we feel are
incapable of winning through the ballot box and so have decided to
use undemocratic means to press their hidden agenda. The offcial,
speaking strictly on condition of anonymity said the Executive
Mansion has no plans at least for now to give credence to the
discussion surrounding an interim government.
Better Liberia Leading Charge?
Dr. Sawyer is one of several names which had been linked to the
Sirleafs resignation campaign along with Isaac Vah Tukpah of the
opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Ellen Corkrum,
the disgraced former head of the Liberia Airport Authority(LAA) and
many other Liberians residing in the United States and other western
counties, including former University of Liberia Vice President Dr.
James Tarpeh, as forming part of the campaign.
Lawrence Randall, a consultant at the Ministry of Finance and a
regular Facebook blogger who frst unleashed the groups blueprint
on Facebook claims to be in possession of an e-mail in which the
groups coordinator, Tukpah speaks of a discussion with Tarpeh.
This is in Isaacs own words We had a meeting last night with
Dr. James Teah Tarpeh and one of his colleagues Sayku Kromah. Dr.
Tarpeh was clear that he was not forming a GIW. After discussions,
it was clear that they share the "Better Liberia" position and look to
build a relationship with us.
The group says in its manifest: With all the issues going on in Liberia,
we believe Liberians who care and are of like mind should begin to
form a unifed Diaspora/Ground effort to push for a Better Liberia.
We really need to start combining forces and sharing information to
put a concerted and consistent pressure on the Government of Liberia
to do the right thing or exit the stage for a Better Liberia to happen.
We cannot bore you with the multiplicity of obvious issues so we will
simply share our thoughts on the direction we need to collectively
embark on.
Under the campaign named Gold Campaign, the group outlined
six major actions, it intends to take against the government headed
by President Sirleaf, which it is said is being done in collaboration
with Diaspora Liberians and like-minded Liberians on the ground in
Liberia.
Amongst the undertakings, Better Liberia Campaign has indicated
that it would inform the Liberian people in simple terms (through
stories, illustrations, videos, excerpt from audits, projects left undone,
etc.) the level of corruption, embezzled/misappropriated funds, and
the lost development and empower the Liberian people to self-help
through information and direct intervention.
The group has vowed that it would be making the case to the US
Government (individual congresspersons, caucuses, White House,
EU, IMF, WB, ADB, and Liberias international partners to force the
Liberian government to do the right thing.
Idea Runs Contrary to Governance, Democracy
But Dr. Sawyer says the plan will not hold water. I want to let it be
known that the idea of forming a transitional government is ridiculous
and runs contrary to what Liberians now need to effectively address
our governance challenges in the face of the Ebola epidemic and
moving forward.
What the group should be doing now, Dr. Sawyer says is striving
to strengthen the post-war nations governance institutions and
processes and make them more effective rather than uproot them
and replace them with tentative or interim governance arrangements.
We should be striving to increase our internal cohesion in order for
us to act together in solidarity at this time rather than widening the
political differences among us and creating questionable temporary
governance institutions. We need to move forward by deepening
constitutional governance, not by undermining it.
As a senior level public offcial chairing the Governance Commission,
Dr. Sawyer says, his work, and that of his colleagues is to recommend
policies and strategies for strengthening our system of constitutional
governance.
The formulation of a decentralization program and its implementation,
the implementation of a code of conduct that will guide the behavior
of public servants, the rationalization of the agencies of government
so that they function more effectively and effciently, the development
of partnerships with CSOs, the implementation of the National
Reconciliation Roadmap and our National Vision of "One People,
One Nation, United for Peace and Sustainable Development" are
our preoccupation. These cannot be achieved through dismantling
constitutional government and setting up intern structures.
Skeptics of the call for an interim government have been wary of
Liberias recent past which has not witnessed a sitting president
successfully transitioning to another government, a trend that has
Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com
progressed in neighboring Sierra Leone and Ghana and one, political
analysts say, international stakeholders maybe nervous about backing
at least in the middle of a major health epidemic.
The concept of an interim government is nothing new for Liberia.
Since the one-party state era of the True Whig Party, succeeding
governments have either lost a head of state through a civil war or
forced out of offce.
Between 1980 and 2006, Liberia was governed by a series of military
and transitional governments. Samuel Kanyon Doe, a master sergeant
who together with a band of lowly-ranked offcers ended decades of
Americo-Liberian rule, won a widely-disputed presidential elections
in 1985 but did not complete his term as a civil war came up upon him
on Christmas Eve December 1989. Charles Taylor, who launched
a rebel movement that forced Doe out of power, won a landslide
election in 1997, but did not complete his term. He was forced to
resign as his Vice President Moses Blah completed his term.
Dr. Sawyer rose to prominence during the Tolbert era when he launched
his quest for the position of Mayor of Monrovia as an Independent.
He previously served as Dean of the College of Social Sciences and
acting director of the University and is a founding member of the
Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA). In 1983 founded the Liberia
Peoples Party(LPP).
He was voted interim president and Bishop Roland Diggs voted vice-
president by a delegation of 35 Liberians representing seven political
parties and eleven interest groups gathered for that purpose. His one-
year appointment was extended for four years during the civil war
fought against rebels led largely by Charles Taylor, Prince Johnson,
and David Nimley. In 1994, he was forced to step down as a part
of the peace process, and the role of offcial leader of Liberia was
held, not by the president, but by the Chairmen of the Council of
State. Fighting sparked again in 1996, and continued during Taylor's
presidency from 1997 to 2003.
In addition to Dr. Sawyer, Liberia has had four other interim heads of
state- David Kpormakor(Council of State-March 7, 1994 to September
1, 1995); Wilton G.S. Sankawulo(Chair of the council o f State,
September 1, 1995 September 3, 1996); Ruth Sando Perry(Chair
of the Council of State September 3, 1996 August 2, 1997) and
Charles Gyude Bryant(October 14, 2003 January 16, 2006).
The interim government discussion comes amid widespread distrust
of the governments handling of the Ebola crisis. In recent weeks
some have suggested a bigger role for the international community
in the management of the health sector in the wake of a deadly Ebola
virus that is killing scores of Liberians. At least 885 persons have
died while 30 have been discharged after treatment at the ELWA
isolation facility where some have suggested the government pay
more attention.
Kyndy Kobbah, a physicians assistant and the only health care worker
Ebola survivor from the C.H. Rennie Hospital in Margibi County,
upon her release from the ELWA isolation unit last Saturday lamented
the plight of health workers in the forefront of the war against Ebola
demands the attention of the government and are in dire straits. A lot
of children in there, they need things to wear, clothes and what have
you and the doctors need upgrading of their salaries because the stay
three, four hours and the food need to come on time.
On Monday, essential and non-essential staffers at the government
premiere hospital, the John F. Kennedy Medical Center assembled on
the hospitals premises to demand salary arrears and improvement in
the benefts and salaries.
Brownell Denies, but
Meanwhile, a member of the Diaspora-based, A Better Liberia, Mr.
John Brownell has denied being a part of any movement calling for
the establishment of an interim government in Liberia but says he
does have an inalienable right to ask a sitting president to step down.
In a letter to FrontPageAfrica, Mr. Brownell said the idea of Better
Liberia Campaign drew out of the concerns that Liberians in the
Diaspora and at home can work together under a uniform creed that
fosters integrity, accountability, with safeguards, and competence
can provide meaningful solutions to our nations challenges. That
is the underlying concept of the Better Liberia Campaign which has
attracted Liberians from around the world thereby changing the name
from Global Organization of Liberian Diaspora for a Better Liberia
(GOLD for BL) to Global Organization for a Better and Accountable
Liberia, GLOBAL. This organization is NOT a part of any plan to
form an Interim Government in Liberia nor is it a part of any idea to
cause chaos or insurrection in Liberia.
Mr. Brownell also said it is in his right as a Liberian to inquire why
JFK has no ambulances and insuffcient doctors; why almost 25,000
students failed University of Liberia entrance exam in a messy
education system; why are there consistent Budget shortfalls; why
our natural resources deals are not compliant with laws as audit fnds
66 out of 68 contracts are bogus; Anything short in performance
is tantamount to gross misconduct which is a violation of Article
62 (Removal from offce) of the Liberian Constitution and fully
cognizant of Article 15 (Right to freedom of expression) and Article 1
(Power of the citizens) respectively, said Brownell.
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Page 3
Emmanuel Abalo, Contributing Writer
INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE
INTERVENTION NEEDED TO
CHECK EBOLA SPREAD
FrontPage
Commentary
COMMENTARY
T
he rapid and uncontrollable spread of the Ebola
pandemic in the Mano River basin in West Africa now
demands extraordinary measures from the international
community over any short term solutions offered by
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - countries severely impacted.
The slow response, patch work of weak solutions and inadequacy
of a comprehensive strategy mean that it is only a matter of time
before unaffected countries are overwhelmed by the spread of
Ebola.
So far, countries at the epicenter of the pandemic have principally
resorted to border closures and quarantine measures. However,
health experts have dismissed these short term solutions as
inadequate to check the spread of the disease in this impoverished
part of the world.
The UN News Center recently quoted Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO
Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country
Collaboration, as saying, "What we are seeing today in contrast
to previous Ebola outbreaks [are] multiple hotspots within
these countries, not a single remote forested area, the kind of
environments in which it has been tackled in the past. And then
not just multiple hotspots within one country, but international
disease, and it is now, as you know, really a multinational effort,
three countries, heavily affected."
According to the Ebola response road-map launched by Dr.
Aylward, the key milestones are to "reverse the trend in new
cases and infected areas within three months, stop transmission
in capital cities and major ports, and stop all residual transmission
with 6 to 9 months."
The WHO offcial Dr. Aylward's fears are further confrmed by
the assessment of the UN Mission in Liberia. That assessment
maintains that ""It is evident that the Liberian authorities are not
able to address the present state of the country. Consequently, it
can be anticipated that many additional EVD cases will arise in the
coming days". Highlighting the challenges facing the fght against
Ebola UNMIL cited logical constraints, delays in responding to
calls from communities."
Medical, economic , political and social gains in the affected
sub-region are being quickly reversed long term by the challenges
posed by the spread of the disease.
The political expediency of deferring to impacted countries to
contain the pandemic can no longer be intelligently defended or
maintained in the face of the humanitarian disaster unfolding.
The world community needs to aggressively act and now!
In principle, the major action envisaged is an immediate
"Healthcare Intervention" by the international community
through the appropriate United Nations agencies in the countries
affected. This "Healthcare Intervention" would focus on
obtaining UN Security Council backing to immediately secure
the health systems in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone through
the massive deployment of international medical strategists and
practitioners who will develop safe health care corridors, tracking
and monitoring of suspect and infected persons, sensitization
programs, treatment and follow up in the sub-region for a period
of 24 months or until the threat subsides.
Countries impacted would then be mandated to develop adequately
funded comprehensive healthcare road-map with inter and cross
border mechanisms and which will have international oversight
and vetting for implementation following the containment of
the spread of the disease. This means that other than national
budgetary allocations to fght the threat of modern day terrorism,
defense budgets will have to signifcantly decrease in favor of
healthcare appropriation.
(By the way, if everyone is at risk of contracting and dying from
Ebola in a country, as is the case now, no one country would be
interested in initiating aggression against another country.)
Any and all foreign aid and funding for health purposes in
these affected countries would be strictly governed by the
healthcare roadmap with international oversight. It would not be
unreasonable to extract the requirement from these countries that
their healthcare allocation in the national budget be greater than
their defense budget as a basis for the international "Healthcare
Intervention" being proposed.
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone which are at the epicenter of
the disease are encouraged to cede authority and control of their
health systems for the stated purpose of disease containment
by the international community. Although, it is evident that this
undertaking will demand huge human and
fnancial resources, the alternatives are quite.
Just as in prior instances where the international community, under
international law, expropriated the right to intervene and continue
to, in humanitarian and genocidal crises around the world, the
saying in this context holds true that "drastic times call for drastic
measures"; Ebola must be stopped now!
The principle of international "Health Care Intervention"
should and can form the basis for discussions on developing
implementable strategies, commitment of resources and right to
accountability by all stakeholders so as to prevent the slow death
march of Ebola.
The author holds a Master of Science in Safety, Security and
Emergency Management from Eastern Kentucky University
(EKU).
v
v
EDITORIAL
AN EMOTIONAL KYNDY KOBBAH, a physicians
assistant and the only health care worker Ebola survivor from
the C.H. Rennie Hospital in Margibi County could not have
said it any better upon her release from the ELWA isolation
unit last Saturday: Healthcare workers in the front line in the
war against Ebola demands the attention of the government
and are in dire straits.
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER, Kobbah, who is one of
three doctors in Liberia recently injected with the Ebola trial
drug, ZMaPP, looked into the eyes of President Ellen Johnson-
Sirleaf Saturday and spoke plainly about the diffculties
health workers are experience in their battle against Ebola.
THE ELWAY FACILITY, under the guise of Dr. Jerry Brown
and his team has a remarkable recovery rate, 30 patients
discharged so far from the deadly virus.
ON SATURDAY, KOBBAH appealed to the international
community to support the Ebola Isolation unit at ELWA.
A lot of children in there, they need things to wear, clothes
and what have you and the doctors need upgrading of their
salaries because the stay three, four hours. I can imagine Dr.
Brown in my in PPE trying to open my line, they cant fnd
it for three, four days. I was up and down in that place. I
am not the only person, a lot of patients. PPE, I wore PPE
before, I know the heat that in PPE, so they need upgrading
of their salaries, they need upgrading madam president and
we need more support in that unit. The food need to come
on time, your tell the cook and what have you, your bring
more support, a lot of children in there, lot of people in there,
they need more support, beddings, mattresses, we need more
things here.
WE WERE MOVED by Kobbahs expression of her desire
to return to work after going through a turbulent period in
which she came close to death. For me as a PA, I will not
relent to work for my people. This is not the end of the road,
this is the end of the road. I was called to serve humanity and
I will continue to serve my people as a physician assistant of
Liberia.
THIS IS WHY we are prevailing on the Sirleaf government
to do all it can to improve the conditions of health workers
and ensure that they get the best and are encouraged to return
to work with better benefts, insurance and improved working
conditions.
WE HOPE THAT those who accompanied the President
to the ELWA facility last Saturday did not just listen to the
speeches from the survivors and the president but took note
of what was said, particularly by Ms. Kobbah regarding the
needs at the isolation unity.
WE ALSO HOPE that the Presidents declaration and
instruction to Health Minister Dr. Walter Gwenigale would
be carried out so that healthcare workers can be able to
receive the best from this government.
WE HAVE NO doubts about the Presidents sincerity when
she said: We will try to give you the best support because
the results that youre getting just so pleases us that we need
to do what we can and thank you for the readiness to get
back to work. I hear what you say about the incentive, weve
been working on that, were trying to cover everybody in the
country and the list and the numbers are large, theyre still
working the numbers to see what kind of incentives we can
give but we are going to do that but we hear what you say
LISTEN TO THE
CRIES OF THE
HEALTHCARE
WORKERS
IN THE FRONTLINE OF
THE EBOLA CRISIS
about some of the basic things youre pleading for like food,
mattresses and other things.
WHAT WE DO HAVE doubts about is the manner in which
healthcare workers have been taken for granted in this country,
especially in the wake of the deadly Ebola outbreak which has
killed more than 885 persons across Liberia.
WE FIND IT disturbing that in the late in the ballgame, a
physician assistant who has defeated the deadly Ebola and
survive is still complaining about lapses in the health system.
THROUGH OUT the Ebola-hit West African nations,
healthcare workers are dying, putting their lives at risks and
daring even after recovery to return to work. But we must not
take their efforts and determination for granted.
EBOLA HAS KILLED more than 1,550 people since March.
One hundred and twenty of those have been health workers.
Their plight was summed up aptly Monday by expert Johan
von Schreeb, head of research on healthcare in disasters at the
Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, who told Reuters
Monday, that after traveling to the region to advise offcials
on how to manage the deadly epidemic, he noticed that
health workers were not protected and remunerated for their
dangerous work, they could not be expected to report for duty.
"There has to be reciprocity for those that are taking a risk in
getting involved in this epidemic and are working to control it.
If you take risks, you should be paid."
WE AGREE. The clock is ticking and more and more people
are dying as Mego Terzian, a senior offcial from Medecins
Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned last week: "The situation is
getting worse. We will have hundreds and thousands more
people infected who will arrive en masse at health centers," he
said. "In Guinea, eight regions have been hit. In Sierre Leone,
the situation is catastrophic and out of control and in Liberia,
let's not even talk about it."
WE MUST NOW ALLOW this to get out of hand before it
is too late. Liberias problem is we appear to consume with
a Task Force that has proven that it is unable to handle this
epidemic and are mired in disunity, confusion and fight of its
key members from Liberia.
WE CANNOT and must not allow Ebola to continue killing
our people, particularly our health workers who are the frst
line of defense and regrettably the last in line on the priority
list of concerns for this government.
Page 4 |
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
BROWNELL: I HAVE AN
INALIENABLE RIGHT
TO ASK A SITTING
PRESIDENT TO RESIGN
INTERIM
GOVERNMENT
RIDICULOUS IDEA
FrontPage
Send your letters and comments to:
editor@frontpageafricaonline.com
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077-936-138, editor@FrontPageAfricaonline.com;
rodney.sieh@FrontPageAfricaonline.com
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E
DITORIAL TEAM
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
ABOUT OUR STORIES ON THE
WORLDWIDE WEB
The Reader's Page
The Editor,
M
y attention is drawn to a headline story in the
internet version of the Frontpageafricaonline
newspaper titled WHOS BEHIND ELLEN'S
RESIGNATION CALL? INTERIM GOV'T TALK
HEATS UP in which my name is mentioned as a contact person
for Europe.
I want to frstly categorically deny being a part of any plan to form
an Interim Government in Liberia. Again, there has been no plan
or idea to "stock the fames of societal unrest" in Liberia.
The idea of Better Liberia Campaign drew out of the concerns
that Liberians in the Diaspora and at home can work together
under a uniform creed that fosters integrity, accountability, with
safeguards, and competence can provide meaningful solutions
to our nations challenges. That is the underlying concept of
the Better Liberia Campaign which has attracted Liberians
from around the world thereby changing the name from Global
Organization of Liberian Diaspora for a Better Liberia (GOLD for
BL) to Global Organization for a Better and Accountable Liberia,
GLOBAL. This organization is NOT a part of any plan to form an
Interim Government in Liberia nor is it a part of any idea to cause
chaos or insurrection in Liberia.
News circulated around the world via social media that Dr James
Tarpeh was forming an interim government. Being proactive,
we saw it expedient to confrm that story by asking Dr Tarpeh
about his complicity in the news story. He vehemently denied
this allegation of forming an Interim Government and or GIW
(Government In Waiting). There is no plan to destabilize Liberia
in ascertaining the actual facts from Dr Tarpeh emanating from
news report. GLOBAL is not a part!
Another point needing clarity was why Bio information was
requested? This was originally a suggestion of Dr Tarpeh at our
meeting because he wanted to know the background of the people
he was dealing with and we simply adopted it. We have shared
the draft document with people in the USA, Europe, Australia
and Liberia. We all don't know each other and thus, we thought it
would be expedient that everyone send a mini Bio so that we can
adequately use everyone skills appropriately. Some have IT skills,
planning skills, writing skills, managerial skill, etc. That provides
the organization the requisite skills audit check to know where we
lack expertise and recruit.
The people who are spreading falsehood are also not mentioning
to their audience that there are so many activities we plan to
engage which include once the organization is up and running:
Business Forums, Leadership & Intellectual Forums, Awareness
campaign and Training activities, sports tournaments, Radio
Talk Shows, community development and street parties in many
counties. We intend to awaken the conscious minds about Liberia
and our responsibilities as citizens.
I have an inalienable right to ask a sitting president to resign or
get on with the business of doing the work she was elected. I
have a right to ask why JFK has no ambulances and insuffcient
doctors; why almost 25,000 students failed University of Liberia
entrance exam in a messy education system; why are there
consistent Budget shortfalls; why our natural resources deals are
The Editor,

I
have been in the US since mid-July attending to my medical
challenges. Having now sorted out return travel issues in view
of suspension and uncertainty in airline schedules, my wife and
I will be back on September 11th.
I want to let it be known that the idea of forming a transitional
government is ridiculous and runs contrary to what Liberians now
need to effectively address our governance challenges in the face
of the ebola epidemic and moving forward. We should strive to
strengthen our governance institutions and processes and make
them more effective rather than uproot them and replace them with
tentative or interim governance arrangements. We should be striving
to increase our internal cohesion in order for us to act together in
solidarity at this time rather than widening the political differences
among us and creating questionable temporary governance
institutions. We need to move forward by deepening constitutional
governance, not by undermining it. As a senior level public offcial
chairing the Governance Commission, my work and that of my
colleagues is to recommend policies and strategies for strengthening
our system of constitutional governance. The formulation of a
decentralization program and its implementation, the implementation
of a code of conduct that will guide the behavior of public servants,
the rationalization of the agencies of government so that they function
more effectively and effciently, the development of partnerships with
CSOs, the implementation of the National Reconciliation Roadmap
and our National Vision of "One People, One Nation, United for
Peace and Sustainable Development" are our preoccupation. These
cannot be achieved through dismantling constitutional government
and setting up intern structures.
Therefore, those folks who are calling for an interim government are
moving in the wrong direction and could never count on my support
or that of others who are committed to this agenda. My appeal is that
we all fnd a silver lining in this terrible epidemic to frst contain it
and then eradicate it so that we can move our country forward not
backward.
Amos Sawyer
acsawyer45@aol.com
Edward Roye Top Commenter Liberia College
Madam Sawyer, it is shame for you to begin to insult the poverty-stricken
people of Liberia because of your husband's death. Remember, no Liberian
poisoned him; he died as a result of an outbreak which Liberians had
no control over. If your husband was so clean as alleged by you and he
complained of flthy health system in Liberia, why did he in the frst place
agreed to come to Liberia and risk his life? Your husband was part of the
problems in Liberia, he was making salary he could had never made in his
life in US, he usurped two different jobs thereby defrauding gov't. Most
of the Liberians brought home to work always try to insult Liberians at
home, they are the ones making huge salary while the rest are underpaid,
they got access to get vacation and fy back to their heaven any time and
return to their plantation (Liberia). Mrs. Sawyer, u would do yourself better
by refraining from the press with your insults. Liberians are already hurt
with the loss of many of our citizens and the hardship being placed on us
by this outbreak. You people are the ones fomenting anti-diaspora Liberian
feeling at home. If all Liberians would get the salary government is offering
to the other citizens; the health system would have been better. Go and get
your husband's social security benefts and the insurance benefts in the US.
FORGET ABOUT LIBERIA AND LIBERIANS. WE WILL OVERCOME
THIS SITUATION VERY SOON BYTHE GRACE OF GOD AND OUR
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS.
Munahp Cooper Cuttington University
If you have experience the situation the Sawyers had faced and is still facing
along with other Liberians, then you will be mindful of how your address
the issue.
Andrew Gursay
Here is my question to you Mr.. Muah; Patrick's sister died on July 7, 2014,
and Patrick went to Mittal on, or July 11, 2014, and he (Patrick) came to the
ministry of fnance between July 11-15, 2014, at which time according to you
(Muah) Patrick was told not to come back to the MOF. Based on that time-
line, how could he have emailed you several weeks earlier informing you of
his sister's death? As I am sure you know, several by defnition, means, more
than three. Patrick and his sister died 18 days apart. The man did not even
live a full three weeks after his sister died. Giving your explanation, he had
to have emailed you between July 7, and the time he last showed up at the
MOF. That is barely a week and a one-day. What is the actual date on that
email you claimed Patrick sent several weeks earlier? What is the real story?
George Sie Williams Co-Founder & Executive Director at Partner for
Health - PFH
We are still not learning from the Sawyer's experience. Why are we not
isolating suspected Ebola patients from the communities? They are roaming
freely and we say we have them under surveillance. In the process some
escape their communities and when they get sick elsewhere they establish
new chain of cases. I think 21 days isolation for suspected Ebola patients
will prevent the disease form spreading.
Alyce Anderson Top Commenter
If he was so passionate about improving the healthcare system why did he
go against every code of ethics for a health care professional? You can blame
the Liberian health care system all you want but that doesn't negate the fact
that your husband acted irresponsibly and selfshly when he left the hospital
where he was quarantined and got on that fight to go to Nigeria. As a health
care professional he was aware of the danger he was putting others in but
he didn't care. He wasn't thinking about nobody but himself. He KNEW
he was infected with the virus especially so since his sister had died from
it. He KNEW how easily the virus spreads and he KNEW he was putting
other people lives at risk. This has nothing to do with whether the system is
broken. How do you think the families of all those that died because of your
husband's negligence feel? How do you think the Government of Nigeria
feel? Who do you think these families are blaming, Liberia? Think again.
You can blame the bad health care system, politics and corruption in Liberia
all you want but let's call a spade a spade your husband is not blameless
in this matter. He helped spread the disease among his fellow Liberians
and caused others to die and nothing about that is noble. In fact, he took
the disease to another country and spread it even more. He was rude and
disrespectful to the health care workers both in Liberia and Nigeria. Sorry
for your loss madam, but don't blame everyone else for what Mr. Sawyer
did. After all, others died because of his actions.
Hilary B. Wiagbe Data Manager at Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare
If Patrick knew all these bad things about Liberia Health System, I think he
could help make a difference. He knew very well that his sister died of Ebola
and he came in contact with her but instead they lied to Catholic hospital
administration and see the numbers of people who have died, these people
were helping to fx our poor Health System. He (Patrick) knew very well that
he was ill but because of fat DSA he force it to Nigeria and now see what
is happening in Nigeria. Follow the story of the American Doctor (Kent),
he isolated himself immediately after he fell ill, these are people who came
from their comfortable homes to help fx our poor health system... BUT your
Late Husband (Patrick) added insult to injury. By God grace this storm will
soon pass over LIBERIA.....
Sydney Nogirlsallow Cooper Geologist at Aureus Mining Inc
Decontee claims that her husband never trusted the health system here but
trusted that one in Nigeria, why did he spilled his urine on nurses after he
was diagnosed of EBOLA? Madam Ellen should be blame for all these
insults. Patrick Sawyer was a Public Health Practioner, what was he doing
in Finance? See what an imported government offcial has done to us. Our
country name has been spoil already then Mad Patrick Sawyer (unquote
Goodluck Jonathan) has damaged it to the worst.
SAWYER WIDOW CITES POOR
HEALTHCARE FOR HUBBY MISJUDGMENT
not compliant with laws as audit fnds 66 out of 68 contracts are
bogus; Anything short in performance is tantamount to gross
misconduct which is a violation of Article 62 (Removal from
offce) of the Liberian Constitution and fully cognizant of Article
15 (Right to freedom of expression) and Article 1 (Power of the
citizens) respectively.
I close with a quote from the French philosopher Voltaire: Those
who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit
atrocities. Because we differ in opinions, doesn't mean that I
want to destabilize or overthrow a government! I am a patriotic
Liberian and will put Liberia before my fellowmen and condemn
corruption and the unequal distribution of the wealth of Liberia
fairly amongst all of its citizens. Finally, I am not a part or have
no idea of the formation of an Interim Government in Liberia or
anywhere on planet Earth!!
John Brownell
john.brownell@liberiansineurope.eu
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Page 5
Wade C. L. Williams, wade.williams@frontpageafricaonline.com
Monrovia-
O
n Monday healthcare workers at the nations biggest
referral hospital the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital
staged a go-slow action on compounds of the hospital.
Many nurses, physician assistants and nonmedical staff at
the hospital abandoned work at the facility that is currently partially
operational due to the deadly Ebola virus.
Gerald Dennis III, nonmedical staff at the hospital told FrontPageAfrica
that workers have a number of concerns that have not been addressed
by the management of the hospital.
What we are doing is a peaceful way of putting our grievances forth
to our administrator and the general public, he said on Monday as
they chanted slogans against the administration of the hospital.
We need our august pay and also we need increment in our pay
because when they go to the media, they say the least person here
is making US$350. If you are talking about least I think I should be
among those. We are being underpaid.
He said even though the Ebola crisis is pillaging lives in Liberia,
the strike was timely and that the administration of the hospital was
taking the workers for granted.
I think it is a very good time for the health workers to strike; the
health workers are the ones who are going on the battlefeld, the
angry worker said.
Secondly, we need a suitable workforce that will be effective
and effcient. We want the administration to pay people based on
qualifcation. We dont have insurance beneft. At JFK, they fre
people without giving them due process. Some people have spent two
years here and they are still making 7,000 Liberian dollars. These
people have created a spoiled system here.
The workers continued to chant until there was an intervention by
a radio talk-show host Henry Costa of Voice F.M. He was able to
negotiate a meeting between the administration and the workers.
Thirty minutes from now when it is 3pm, she will meet all of you in
the OPD. I beg you all, when you all meet in the OPD; you all know
to resolve matter in noise is not possible. If youll do that you all will
not resolve anything, said Costa.
The reason why all of us in the country cant be in the government is
that we will not achieve anything. The reason why only one president
we got is because if you got two they will have to agree before they do
anything. So you all will have to conduct yourselves in a civil manner
and ask questions.
Miscommunication
At the meeting held with the workers it was resoled that the workers
would return to work and halt their strike action.
The main problem was communication; it was not communicated
properly by their supervisors, that is what caused the tension, said
DaylueGoah Communication offcer at the hospital via mobile phone
after the meeting.
He said workers who had abandoned the facility during the death of
healthcare workers from the deadly disease at the facility thought they
would not get paid for the month of August.
They asked management whether what they were hearing was true
that management would pay certain people for the month of August
and not paying certain people because they stayed home.
After Dr. Borbor and Dr. Brisbane got infected with the Ebola virus,
most of the health workers abandoned the medical center and they
fed, he said.
According to them they fed for their lives because if a senior doctor
can die from the virus, they were afraid so they left the compound.
But when they came back, management asked all supervisors to send
the listing of all of those that have been coming to work.
He said the matter is resolved, as the management has promised to
pay the workers despite the fact that they abandoned the facility for
the month of August.
When the supervisors started going around signing attendance-
signing book, to carry to management they misunderstood it that
management were only going to pay those that were signing in during
the crisis period, which was not the case. She told them that it was not
the case. She told them that the reason they were calling for signing
in book was to shake the hands of those who risked their lives during
the crisis period. Those that stood on the frontline when the hospital
was totally down, management wants to say thank you in addition to
their salaries.
The resources to pay Elwa and JFK are being negotiated according
to assistant minister for health and curative services Mr. Tolbert
Nyenswah
By (Tuesday) they will be getting paid. We have been negotiating
with them on the new pay scale and how much they want us to pay
them, he said.
Under the new arrangement, FrontPageAfrica has learned, doctors are
demanding $US3,000, but the government is said to be negotiating
for the amount to be dropped to US1, 500 2000 while nurses are
being penned in to make $US750.00.
GO-SLOW AT JFK
Workers, nurses say they have not been paid for August

Monrovia-
T
he outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia has
exposed the broken health sector with the country showing
its inability to fght the virus but the Government in its
renewed effort to fght the virus has disbursed more than
eight hundred thousand United States dollars to security entities
nearly equaling amount disbursed to the Ministry of Health and
Social Welfare which is spearheading the fght against Ebola in all
15 counties.
Ebola patients are going hungry, lacking proper care in isolations
Centers around the country as on Monday, a spokesperson for a group
of 14 people sent home after surviving the virus in the presence of
Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyeswah said patients went without
food up to 12 pm Monday at the ELWA-2 center.
Hunger strikes Patients
Ahmed Kamara, a survivor speaking on behalf of 14 others 12 of
whom were tested positive of Ebola and have now being tested
negative after undergoing treatment and two others who were taken
to the center under suspected case, said on Monday, all patients went
hungry until they had to go shouting for food.
Said Kamara Right now the care that we really used to have we are
not getting it again, like for this morning, no doctor or nurse came to
see us until 12 just because they did not receive their pay, we have
kids that were in there, that food could not reach them. The nurses
and doctors are the ones who bring our food to us, and if they are not
satisfed, it is not going to be easy.
The Ebola survivor further said he is appealing to the Government of
Liberia to solve the problem as there are more people at the isolation
center and going without food will be harmful for their survival.
Kamara continued the nurses and doctors, they are the ones, God
frst; they are second that make us to be here today. Me standing here
today talking to you, I am begging, I am appealing because we still
have people in there under critical condition. We have children in
there that did not eat today till 12 because nurses and doctors were
angry saying that they did not receive their pay.
He said they had to go out shouting for food and causing noise before
they could get food to eat. So for that reason we have to almost go to
the suspected area to start shouting for our food, so I want to appeal to
the Government to pay these people their money.
Resource constraints cited
Assistant Minister Nyeswah responding to Mondays incident said
the resources to pay ELWA and JFK are being negotiated.
Said Nyeswah By tomorrow (Tuesday) they will be getting paid. We
have been negotiating with them on the new pay scale and how much
LIBERIA EBOLA PATIENTS GO HUNGRY;
SECURITY GETS HUGE MONEY
Right now the care that we really used to have we are not getting it again, like for this morning, no doctor or nurse came to see us until
12 just because they did not receive their pay, we have kids that were in there, that food could not reach them. The nurses and doctors are
the ones who bring our food to us, and if they are not satisfed, it is not going to be easy. - Ahmed Kamara, Ebola Survivor
they want us to pay them.
Under the new arrangement, FrontPageAfrica has learned, doctors are
demanding US $3, 000, but the government is said to be negotiating
for the amount to be dropped to US$1,500 2000 while nurses are
being penned in to make $US750.00.
According to information, the government is also said to be in
negotiations with new caterers to feed the patients daily as caterers
are reported to have refused to deliver food because they had not been
paid.
What went on today was so disappointing. They (health workers)
refused to give patients the food that was sent and the caterers
brought the food late. It was wrong on the part of the health workers
to abandon patients but we hope to have everything resolved by
tomorrow, Nyensuah said.
Security prioritized over health
Already some of the measures imposed by the Government have been
viewed as having security implications with the government mute on
making clarity but the disbursement of almost US$ 1 million to the
Armed Forces of Liberia, the Liberian National Police and the Bureau
of Immigration and Naturalization further gives some weight to
rumors that there is security dimension to the Governments ongoing
response to Ebola.
With more than four million disbursed by the Government to various
ministries and agencies in an attempt to fght the virus, things are
getting worse, showing that management is a better option than
money.
FrontPageAfrica has gathered that the Government of Liberia has
disbursed a cumulative amount of US$4,701,558.68 to ministries
and agencies including the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare,
Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, Bureau of Immigration
and Naturalization, the Task Force Center, The Ministry of State for
Presidential Affairs, the Liberian National Police and the Ministry of
Information, Culture and Tourism.
While health workers shunning medical facilities demanding more
incentives and insurance one Ebola survivor, a Liberian Physician
Assistant who worked at the C. H. Rennie Hospital in Kakata, Margibi
County Kyndy Kobbah PA in the presence of President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf appealed to the Government to increase incentives to health
workers but despite these calls, the government disbursed a total of
US$805,912.25 to the Ministry of Defense, the Liberian National
Police and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism statutorily
responsible to disseminate information also received a total
US$17,500 while the Ministry of State with no health related program
received US$160,000.00.
As of August 22, the government indicated that it has collected a
total of US$5,228,250 and L$9,310,000 from sources including the
Government of Liberia contributing US$5,000,000; Central Bank
of Liberia-US$100,000; Liberia Petroleum Refning Compnay-
US$75,000; Charles A. Sirleaf-US$500; Unidentifed donors
US$44,250 and L$ 1,010,000 and the National Social Security and
Welfare Corporation L$8,300,000.
The disbursement by the Government means the Ministry of Health
and Social Welfare which has 15 counties under its control will have
to share the amount in combating the virus.
Five counties are so far showing high number of cases and deaths
including Lofa, Montserrado, Margibi, Bong and Nimba counties
with Nimba now reporting increase in the number of Ebola cases.
Grand Bassa County is also another county showing threats of the
increase in the virus and besides mainly South Eastern Counties;
ten counties have reported cases of Ebola with threats of potential
increase.
The disbursement of US$1,416,293.26 and L$121,000,000 to the
Ministry of Health leaves the Ministry almost on par with the amount
disbursed to the three security agencies since it has to disburse
funding to the various counties mainly the 10 counties reporting
cases of Ebola and even the other counties for awareness and other
programs geared towards fghting Ebola.
Some international organizations have blamed mismanagement and
other forms of corruption for inability of the three countries, Guinea,
Sierra Leone and Liberia to fght the Ebola virus.
Sierra Leonean President Ernest B. Koroma recently sacked the Health
Minister of that country for poorly managing the Ebola outbreak.
Page 6 |
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Sirleaf Visits Margibi County; Describes Recovered
Physician Assistant as a Hero
F
RONT
PAGE
NEWS EXTRA

F
RONT
PAGE
EBOLA
Monrovia
T
he Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)escorted by
offcers of the Liberia National Police bulldozed its way
into the premises of FrontPageAfrica Monday without a
warrant and locked the generator room which provides
power to the printing press which prints the newspapers print
edition.
The action stems from an ongoing feud between the EPA, FPA and
Martha Sendolo Belleh, a former Minister of Health in the Samuel
Kanyon Doe government who has been harassing the newspaper
and complaining that the entitys generator has been disturbing
her.
FrontPageAfrica has spent more than $US3,000 to extend the
smoke pipe in its generator room, increased the height of the fence
adjacent Ms. Bellehs property and even stopped using the offce
for production for three months while the renovation work was
going on just to appease the former minister.
To the newspapers dismay, Mrs. Belleh has continuously been
running to the EPA with complaints now saying that the noise
from the generator house is disturbing her.
In the absence of stable electricity, ninety percent of Monrovia
residents rely on generators for work and business.
The EPA without conducting an investigation had accused
FrontPageAfrica of being in violation of its "Section 69 EPA
Prohibition of Pollution by Emission" policy and requested the
Ministry of Justice to provide its inspectors with police protection
in a bid to remove the generator that supplies FrontPageAfrica
with power to operate its offce in Congotown.
FrontPageAfrica has been operating in the leased vicinity located
in Congotown behind the Lone Star Cell offce since 2008, long
before Ms. Belleh commenced construction of her building.
The newspapers representatives had discussions with Ms. Belleh
and had already agreed that it would carry out a number of facelift
to prevent the emission from entering Ms.Belleh's building. Those
facelifts were in process when Ms. Belleh fled began fling her
complaints even though the newspaper had stopped using the
premises just to please the former Minister and avoid getting into
trouble.
In spite of the many changes made to ease tension over the issue,
the EPAs deputy director, Stephen Neufville, in a May 28, 2014
letter wrote then Acting Minister of Justice, Cllr. Wheatonia
Dixon Barnes, seeking police escort to remove the generator from
the property where FrontPageAfrica has its offces.
Mr. Neufville claimed in the letter that the newspapers publisher
Rodney Sieh was invited for an inquiry and that one was done
prior to writing his letter, a claim FrontPageAfrica denies. The
EPA on Monday carried out its threats and placed a lock on
the FPA offce generator door, causing serious setbacks to the
newspapers production.
On Monday, Mr. Sieh instructed his staff to remove the lock
from the door and instructed his attorneys to fle a US$100
million lawsuit against Mrs. Belleh and the EPA for harassing the
newspapers work.
Publisher Sieh said: At frst, Ms. Belleh and the EPA claimed that
we were in violation of the emission of generator smoke into her
house by means of the exhaust pipe built through her fence. We
have corrected that, now theyre claiming that the noise is too
much for her hears. A load of crap and we will fght them in court.
Mr. Sieh later instructed his staff to break the lock on the generator
door and resume production of the newspaper and its online
service.
The newspaper has in recent weeks been enduring a lot of
EPA TAMPERS WITH
FRONTPAGEAFRICA PRODUCTION

Locks Newspapers Generator Room Over Nagging Martha Bellehs Claims,
Newspapers Processing US$100 Million Dollar Harassment Lawsuit
pressure from Ms. Belleh who went as far as trying to prevail on
the landlord of the building to remove FrontPageAfrica from the
premises by not renewing the terms of the lease agreement which
expired at the end of October.
The EPA and Ms. Bellehs tirade has been directed at
FrontPageAfrica and its publisher Sieh who are only tenants in
the building and not the owner.
Ironically, in the same vicinity, Lonestar Communication
Corporations which has an even bigger generator which spreads
more smoke into the environment and her building, also runs two
500KVA generators which run more hours than FrontPageAfrica
which has an 80KVA generator that operates less than fve hours
daily and used only for printing purposes at night.
The community is also host to several companies including Putu
Range, Bea Mountain and others all with bigger generators than
FPA. This is why we are puzzled and do not see the rationale for
targeting FrontPageAfrica, Sieh said Monday.
Monrovia -
P
resident Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf has
described as a hero
a physician assistant
at the C.H. Rennie Hospital
in Kakata, Margibi County
after full recovery after being
affected by the Ebola virus
disease and has opted to return
to work immediately.
Mrs. Kandy Kobbah told
the Liberian leader that
her infection, isolation and
subsequent full recovery from
the silent killer disease was
not the end of the road in
her medical service and that
she will return to her area
of assignment in Kakata to
resume normal duty.
Mrs. Kobbah in tears said
though she had gone through all
the pains, agony and isolation
as the result of the disease, she
will continue to provide service
to the people even in these
diffcult times and will use her
status as a survivor to educate
those that are of the notion that
the disease does not exist.
According to an Executive
Mansion release, Mrs. Kobbah
made the assertion Saturday,
August 30, when she and
a Congolese doctor, Sengo
Oneoga, where discharged
from the Liberian-run Ebola
Treatment Center at the
ELWA Hospital following full
recovery.
Dr. Oneoga who has been
living and working in Liberia
for the past three years got
infected while treating Ebola
patients in Monrovia.
They were both treated with
the Zmapp drug.
Speaking when she received the
two health workers, President
Sirleaf expressed appreciation
that Liberians were taking
ownership and was further
encouraged by the motivated
health workers at ELWA Ebola
Treatment Center.
Nothing would have made
me happy further other than
Mrs. Kobbahs zeal and
determination to save life even
at her own risk, President
Sirleaf said when she addressed
health workers at the C.H.
HEROS LABEL FOR ZMAPP-CURED HEALTH WORKER
Rennie Hospital in Kakata City,
adding, As a government we
must do all within our power
to keep health workers safe as
they save lives.
She repeated governments
commitment to improving the
working condition of health
workers across the country
as the process of improved
incentives and benefts were
being fnalized to beneft all.
President Sirleaf admonished
health care workers at the
C.H. Rennie hospital to make
use of the Personal Protective
Equipment (PPEs) as they copy
the example of Mrs. Kobbah in
her demonstration for love of
the profession.
At the hospital, the Margibi
County Health Team briefed
President Sirleaf with regards
to the strategy being used by
the county-level Ebola Task
Force.
According to the county
authorities, they have made
progress in urging the local
communities to take ownership
of the fght; a method they say
has worked so well thereby
leading to successfully
breaking transmission in
Dolos Town in lower Margibi
County which was hardly hit
by the virus due to traditional
burial practices.
A consultant to the county
health team, Dr. Francis
Ketteh, informed President
Sirleaf that as part of the fght
against the Ebola virus disease,
they have planned to build
their own treatment center
in the county to avoid taking
patients to the ELWA treatment
center in Paynesville which he
said sometimes turned back
patients due to lack of space.
The Liberian leader welcomed
the initiative.
She promised centrals
government cooperation with
the Margibi County authorities
to create the guest house, under
construction, owned by the
county into a treatment center.
President Sirleafs visit to
Margibi County also took
her to the Firestone-Liberia
run Du-side Hospital where
she was also briefed by
hospital authorities about their
intervention in the fght.
Du-side Hospitals Chief
Administrator, Dr. Lyndon
Mabande informed the
Liberian President that they
have managed to keep the
hospital opened for regular
illnesses while an observation
and treatment center operated
by company operates as well.


Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Page 7

THE COLUMN
with: Brenda Brewer Moore,
moore.brenda@gmail.com, Columnist
CHALLENGING CENTURIES AND DECADES OF
TRADITION AND CULTURE IN LIBERIA
W
ith the Ebola outbreak, Liberia has entered unchartered territory and is struggling to
deal with this plague that is ravishing our country. Ebola has claimed the lives of so
many of our people. Over 500 Liberians dead as of August 24. Thats alarming fgure
if you consider with each life, the number of people affected.
All that we have known and practiced are being questioned, challenged as part of prevention
measures. How can you attempt to change decades, centuries of cultural practices in a few days or
weeks? How can you change an entire societys way of life? Understandably so, we resist some of
these changes. In as much as we understand the reasons for the change, we fnd it hard to embrace it
even at the risk of our lives and that of our loved ones.
Grief
There is a long standing joke that Liberian people like funeral business. Same is true for most
Africans when it comes to burial rites. We demand that our beloved dead ones are given a beftting
burial regardless of relationship we had with the person while he/she was alive. You may not have
spoken to that relative for years but once that person is dead, bygones are bygones. We do not speak
ill of the dead and put hands together and bury that person.
This entails weeks of planning the funeral, from the kind of casket and souvenirs, to the repast.
Relatives residing abroad come in for the funeral in all fanfare and pageantry. We spread mat,
meaning we open our homes to friends and relatives to come in to help with the planning, cooking
and burial preparation. Relatives from up country come to town to grieve with us and to comfort
us during the diffcult time. People are expected to openly grieve their departed love ones. The few
who try to hold their grief in and behave dignifed are regarded with raised eyebrows and subtle
mummers are heard that the person is trying to act qwee or white and in some instances even
regarded with suspicion. Why arent you crying?
We are open mourners. None of that stoic well behaved poised crying you see on TV for us. Oh no!
We get that grief out. We yell, scream, throw ourselves on the ground and cry. Sympathizers hold
us, comforting us. They hug us. They cry with us. That is what we know. That is what we expect.
Once the actual burial is completed, it is common to see people who had been bitterly wailing and
yelling, crying inconsolably only few hours before, laughing with family again. Holding a cold
one and telling fond tales of the departed person. Funerals are also a time of family reunions and re-
acquaintance, renewal of friendships. Meeting new additions to the family including new boyfriends,
girlfriends, baby, etc. All of this is a ritual. A process that goes on anywhere from a week to a month.
In fact in some West African countries (Ghana and Nigeria particularly) the dead can be kept up to 6
months just awaiting funeral preparations. One could say this is a way of dealing with grief which is
why you probably dont see so much depression and suicides in our culture. We mourn and move on.
Then so in comes Ebola. We are now told to stop all of this. Now if someone we love dies, we are not
to touch the body. Our society is far from what we see in the movies where you see someone faints
and the person nearby picks up and phone and dials 911 and within minutes there is an ambulance
there to whisk that ill person away to the hospital for treatment. In stark reality here in Liberia right
now, people who do call the 4455 number (Ebola Response Center) have to wait hours for a response
team and in some cases, a day or two. During this agonizing time, this is when the person is most
infected. As such family members are cautioned to stay away. Do not touch. And when the burial
team arrives, the body is taken away. Immediately. There is no opportunity for closure. The stigma
of the illness alone isnt allowing us to loudly mourn as much as we would want. We dont want
people linking us to the dreadful disease and have others thinking we touched the dead and are now
infected. Instead of comfort, we are now afraid of being shunned and stigmatized. We are also now
told to burn our dead. Yes, burn the bodies. There is no grave site you can show or go and decorate
and memorialize on Decoration day. (no grave to fght over, ha!)
Bonding
We are an affectionate set of people. We love touching each other. Whether to console or to greet.
You meet someone and the frst thing that is expected is to say hello and extend your hand for a
handshake to show you hold no ill towards the person. Refusing to shake someones hand is taken
as a serious slight.
The ritual has been established. Decades old.You greet the person verbally, shake hands and hug the
person. Some do the customary kiss on both cheeks or pat the person on the back. Some men are fond
of snapping fngers and doing elaborate handshakes. All this is done joyfully, smiling and talking. We
are now told we have to stop this also. These days we have become Asians. You meet someone and
you smile and do a slight bow or just say hello or wave. No touching, no handshakes, no kissing and
certainly no hugs. Everyone you meet now smells of chlorine. The prevention measure now popular
in and around the country. From offces and local businesses, to homes fewer visits, fewer meet
ups, less contact. We try to stay alive. In fact, Ebola now has this distrust for everyone you meet.
Food
People in the rural areas live off the land. For them its quite simple: They farm. They hunt. They
sell. They are now being told to not hunt (with no alternatives being provided) and not eat animals in
the wild. After a full day on the farm doing various chores, people come home and have communal
meals together, often eating in one big bowl with females eating together, males in another and kids
in another. For people in the city who have the luxury of buying imported chicken and meat, its
easy to remove bush meat from their palate, but this is almost impossible for the many whom this
is their main source of meat protein. A way of life.
Centuries old traditions and beliefs have held us together, served as the glue for families and
communities. Handed down , generation after generation. Normalizing life even after years of civil
war. Yet, the reality and sheer number of death rate has us all shaken and scared and pushed us to
come out of our comfort cultural zones and consider changing, adapting to collectively combat the
plague.
However, in as much as there is a lot we are resisting, we should also consider adapting.
There is a saying in Liberia such is the time, such is the condition. We fnd ourselves in a diffcult
time and condition and we need to change fast. Re-orientate ourselves if we are to survive to tell the
story.
Then, maybe then, just maybe, we can go back to life as we knew it.
GRIEF, BONDING AND FOOD
TENDER NOTICE
Name of Country: LIBERIA
Name of Project: REHABILITATION AND UPGRADING OF RUNWAY
04-22 AT ROBERTS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Brief Description of the Works:
The Scope of the works comprises the rehabilitation and upgrading runway 04-22 at
Roberts International Airport which shall be undertaken whilst the airport remains
operational through out as follows:
(a) Rehabilitation of Runway 04-22 including re-profling of the runway transverse
slope
(b) Rehabilitation of the frst 80 metres of Taxiway A and B
(c) Airside geometric improvements, including a new turnpad at RWY end 04, and
widening of taxiway fllets
(d) Grading of the runway strip
(e) Associated stormwater drainage improvements adjacent to the runway
(f) Runway and taxiway markings
(g) Rehabilitation of the associated RWY and TWY AGL system, and mandatory
and guidance signage
1) The Government of Liberia has applied for funds from the European Investment
Bank (EIB), the Saudi Fund (SF) and BADEA towards the cost of the rehabilitation
and upgrade of the runway at Roberts International Airport. It is intended that part
of the proceeds of these funds will be applied to eligible payments under the contract
Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Runway 04-22 at Roberts International Airport.
Interested eligible applicants may obtain further information from
NACO, Netherlands Airport Consultants,
ms Sheweta Kowlesar
Anna van Saksenlaan 10,
2593 HT The Hague,
The Netherlands,
Roberts.international.airport@rhdhv.com,
+31 88 3481503 (tel)
+ 31 70 3245302 (fax)
A complete set of the prequalifcation document in English may be purchased by
interested applicants on the submission of a written application (email, facsimile or
postal) to NACO and only upon payment of a non-refundable fee of One hundred USD
($100.00).
The method of payment will be by bank transfer to:
Naco Netherlands Airport Consultants
ABN AMRO
Postbox 749
3000 AS Rotterdam
The Netherlands
IBAN: NL24ABNA0626123100
BIC: ABNANL2A
2) Access codes to the documents will be sent by email to the email address
indicated in the written application.
3) Tenders should be submitted in sealed envelopes, delivered to the address
below by 1200 hours local time on Friday October 17th, and be clearly marked:
Tender Submittal for REHABILITATION AND UPGRADING OF RUNWAY
04-22 AT ROBERTS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Liberia Airport Authority
Ms. Cecelia Sio
Secretary of the Board
James Spriggs Payne Airfeld
Sinkor
Monrovia
LIBERIA
Additional information can be found on www.ted.europa.eu, search term - Liberia.

Page 8 |
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
F
RONT
PAGE
NEWS EXTRA

Selma Lomax, selmalomax@frontpageafricaonline.com
Monrovia -
T
he Publishers
Association of Liberia
(PAL) has decried
the prolonged seizure
of the offces and the ban of
the Chronicle Newspaper and
calls on Government to restore
newspapers right to operate.
In a press release, the Publishers
group said it is in the interest
of the governments long-
checkered relationship with
the media and its professed
commitment to press freedom
and free speech if the ban on the
operations of the newspaper and
the closure of its offces were
lifted unconditionally.
A fortnight ago, dozens of armed
police offcers in a truck and two
pickups stormed the Chronicle
Newspaper, tear-gassed and
stampeded at the offces of
the paper before sealing it
up. Though two editors were
arrested on the evening of the
event, the Publisher Philipbert
Browne, was not but has since
the ban been subjected to daily
mental torture of reporting to
the Headquarter of the Liberia
National Police for questioning.
Government on August 16 via
the Ministry of Information,
in a letter to the Chronicle
management, said it was
freezing the publishing rights of
the newspaper over a series of
its publications bordering secret
transitional plans against the
Sirleaf administration.
The Chronicle management has
complained that government
agents who effectuated its
closure took away two laptops
from its offces.
PAL says it is concerned about the
continued ban on the Chronicle
Newspaper and seizure of
properties under the guise of
investigating its publisher,
Mr. Philipbert Browne, an
investigation seemingly made
pointless and timeless only to
justify a continued ban.
The publishers association has
stressed that as a responsible
government which professedly
espouses the rule of law and
press freedom, the Sirleaf
administration should pursue
the legally accepted option of
lawsuit against the Chronicle, a
legally registered and accredited
corporate body, instead of
resorting to arbitrariness or
secret probes.
According to the Publishers
group, Liberia has already got
national health emergency and
other diffcult socioeconomic
challenges on hand to grapple
with as to be distracted and
compounded by attacks on the
media which is, and should be, a
strategic partner in the fght.
PAL calls on Government to
therefore remove the ban on the
Chronicle and free its Publisher
from further secret investigation.
PUBLISHERSS
ASSOCIATION DECRY
CONTINUED CLOSURE
OF CHRONICLE
NEWSPAPER
AFRICARE RESTORES MOTHERS HOPE
AMID EBOLA OUTBREAK IN BONG COUNTY
Panta District, Bong County-
A
mid the Ebola
outbreak in Liberia,
a non-governmental
organization
Africare/Liberia continues
to collaborate with the Bong
County Health Team in ensuring
that routine basic primary health
services are provided at all
Primary Health Care facilities in
the county.
With funding from the United
States Agency for International
Development and the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare,
Africare/Liberia is supplying
drugs as well as medical and
non-medical supplies to protect
clinicians while they provide
health services to residents of
Bong County.
The Ebola outbreak has led to the
temporary closure of the countys
two major referral hospitals,
Phebe and C.B Dunbar, for the
past month, and the Ebola virus
continues to ravage the central
Liberian city of Gbarnga and its
suburbs.
Every month, Africare/Liberia
Country Director Mr. Ernest
K. Gaie visits Bong County to
observe activities at Africare-
supported health facilities and
projects, and to meet with staff
and listen to their challenges.
This August, Mr. Gaie and
Africare/Liberia Field Manager
George Toe, Jr. visited six
Primary Health Care facilities
in the county. During the visit,
the team observed that Africare-
sponsored health facilities were
open and medical staff, including
support staff, were providing
health services and carrying out
their normal duties.
At Zebay Clinic in Panta-Kpaai
District, the Africare team
observed Registered Nurses
were mustering coordination
among Trained Traditional
Midwives to ensure continued
health care delivery despite the
Ebola outbreak.
During Africare teams visit,
a mother gave birth through
the hands of a professional
nurse assigned to Zebay Clinic.
Knowing that she conceived
before the Ebola outbreak, what
would have been the outcome for
the mother and her infant if the
facility was closed?, the nurse
expressed.
Medical staff at the health
facilities called for protective
equipment and other support
including motivational
incentives if they are to remain
working during the Ebola attack
on Liberia.
Speaking to staff at the various
Primary Health Care facilities,
Africares Country Director Mr.
Gaie lauded the staff for making
the sacrifce to keep the facilities
open and promised to work
with donors to ensure that all
materials needed for staff safety
while providing care will be
available at the facilities.
Mr. Gaie said at this critical time
the protection of health workers
remains his priority in the
provision of health services and
the fght against the killer Ebola.
Mr. Gaie commended Zebays
staff for bringing forth life into
this world on the day of the
teams visit and urged them to
continue to assist amidst the
current health emergency in the
country. He then encouraged the
mother to serve as an ambassador
in her community, informing her
colleagues that amidst the Ebola
situation in Liberia the clinic still
remains the solution to common
illnesses and diseases like it was
before the outbreak.
The outbreak of the deadly
Ebola virus in the Mano River
Union (MRU) countries, of
which Liberia is part, continues
to affect all sectors of the country
with the health sector bearing the
greatest risk.
The disease started in the
Republic of Guinea in March
this year and later spilled over
to Liberia, Sierra Leone and now
Nigeria. The disease is spread
through direct contact with
an infected person or through
contacts with dead Ebola patient.
In Liberia, at least 1,300 cases
have been reported with 743
deaths. Health care workers
account for 67 of the total deaths.
The deaths of health workers
from Ebola while saving lives
at major health facilities in the
country led to the temporary
closure of health facilities like
the Phebe and C.B Dunbar
hospitals in Bong County.
According to some health
workers, the closing of facilities
has led to the death of citizens
from conditions other than
Ebola.
In some cases, pregnant women
are left with no hope to attend
government hospitals or
private clinics, and some seek
Traditional Birth Attendants for
delivery. According to the Bong
County Health Team, since the
outbreak of Ebola in the county
and the subsequent temporary
closure of the Phebe and C.B
Dunbar Hospitals, there is an
unprecedented decline in health
facility delivery in the Gbarnga
and Suakoko areas where the
two hospitals are situated.
Since the outbreak, Health
Workers at the two hospitals
called on the government to
ensure the relocation of the
Ebola isolation ward at the Phebe
Hospital and to provide Personal
Protective Equipment and life
insurance among other things
before they return to work.
The continued closure of these
two major health facilities (C.B
Dunbar and Phebe Hospitals)
signals a slowing pace in the
fght against maternal death in
the country, especially with the
huge population in the health
facilities Gbarnga and Suakoko
District host communities.
A three year Accelerated Action
Plan (AAP) for Maternal
Mortality Reduction developed
by the Ministry of Health and
its partners seeks to increase
the percentage of deliveries
conducted by skilled health
professionals from 40% to 80%,
something that has increased the
incidence of Caesarean sections
from 2.8% nationally to between
5-15% in every county.
The AAP roadmap seeks to:
Reduce the maternal mortality
ratio from 994 deaths per
100,000 live births to 497, reduce
the neonatal mortality ratio from
32 deaths per 1,000 live births to
16 and, Reduce stillbirths from
27 per 1,000 live births to 14.
According to the AAP, the
Government of Liberia through
the Ministry of Health anticipates
achieving these goals by 2015,
in line with Goal Five of the
Millennium Development Goals
seeking signifcant improvement
in maternal health by 2015
globally.
It remains unclear whether
Liberia will meet the 2015 target
specifcally in the health sector
with mounting challenges that
insiders cite to include limited
budgetary allocation for health
which constitutes just a little
over 6% of the national budget,
a limited number of trained
personnel, poor geographic
distribution of available skilled
personnel, and low salaries and
benefts for existing personnel.
Monrovia
F
ive of Liberias registered
political parties have held
roundtable discussion to
advance recommendations for
the resolution of the current state of
affairs in the country.
The meeting held at the headquarters
of the Peoples Unifcation Party
in Monrovia brought together
representatives of the grassroot
Democratic Party of Liberia (GDPL),
the Union of Liberian Democrats
(ULD), the National Patriotic Party
(NPP), the Liberia Transformation
Party (LTP) and the host, the Peoples
Unifcation Party.
At the roundtable discussion, a
statement from the fve political parties
noted that serious national issues were
discussed including the Ebola crisis, the
State of Emergency, the curfew and the
Special Senatorial Elections.
According to the statement,
Representatives of the fve political
parties then resolved to continue the
discussion at 12 noon on Wednesday,
September 3, 2014 at the same venue.
Meanwhile, the fve parties have
launched an appeal to other political
parties to be in attendance on the
aforementioned date.
LIBERIAN POLITICAL PARTIES DISCUSS CRITICAL ISSUES
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Page 9
F
RONT
PAGE
EBOLA
Wade C. L. Williams, wade.williams@frontpageafricaonline.com
Monrovia -
T
he Robert A. Sirleaf Foundation has announced the
departure from the country of its Chief Executive
Offcer, Mr. Robert A. Sirleaf to Europe and the United
States of America to provide frsthand presentations to
ROB SIRLEAF OFF TO US, EUROPE TO
BOOST EBOLA AWARENESS, SUPPORT
Monrovia-
A
single family in the
LPMC community in
GantaNimbaCounty
has been badly hit
by the deadly Ebola virus. The
familys woes started when
an 18-month-old child, Baby
Emmanuel became sick and died
and no one knew the cause of
death. The mother of the child
also became sick and died and
other members of her family who
came in close contact with them
started to get sick until a house
full of people became sick with
the same signs and symptoms.
The family tried taking some
members, who were sick to
the Ganta United Methodist
Hospital, but health workers at
the hospital, who were afraid
that they might get infected,
refused them on arrival and so
the other family members took
the sick home to watch them die
one by one. The family is now
afraid more people will die as
all the deaths have been traced
to the deadly Ebola virus and the
authorities are still slow to act to
quarantine the area.
We have lost nine members
of our family. We are very
devastated. On August 14, we
lost a little boy. He was showing
signs of the disease; he had
rashes on his face hands and
body. He died and was buried
by family members, said Edith
Woo a member of the family
who resides in the United States
of America. Woo expressed fear
she might lose more family
members to the deadly disease
if steps are not taken to do the
right thing by isolating the sick.
She said the countys health team
came to the home, when the little
boy was sick and told the family
it was nothing to worry about and
that it was just measles. She said
the team instructed the family to
bury the child after his death.
The health team came and
instructed the family to bury
the boy because they said it was
measles, so he was buried by
family members, she said.
On the 16th of August my
sister died and on the 17th my
aunt died. These bodies were in
the house for three and a half
days. They will tell you they are
coming but they do not show
up. They promised to come test
the family but never came and
everybody in the house were
showing signs.
EBOLA TRAGEDY IN NIMBA
Looming Spread of Deadly Ebola Virus As a Single Family Loses 9 persons to deadly disease

She said several days passed and
the health team did not show up,
even though the family made
numerous calls to them and as
the response became slower,
more people died and even more
got infected with the deadly
virus. She said when the health
team fnally showed up to test
for Ebola, all results of seven
persons came out positive and on
the same day there was one more
death.
They took blood test of seven
people and everybody turned
out to be positive. Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, people died,
she said as another member of
her family who lives in Monrovia
begged the media to help the
family call on the government
to come to their aid to stop the
spread of the disease to other
members of the family.
My sister was taken to the
Ganta Methodist Hospital before
she died, but the health workers
refused her when they saw her
condition, so she came home
and died, said Alice Appleton,
a resident of Monrovia and
another sister of the dead woman
whose baby is at the epicenter of
the spread of the deadly virus.
All these bodies were in the
house with the living. They came
on Saturday and removed the
bodies.
Yah Zolia, Deputy
Minister,Planning, Research
and Development ministry of
health and currently assigned to
Nimba County by the Incidence
Manager/MOHSW as Technical
Assistant told FrontPageAfrica
that currently there is no Ebola
Treatment Unit (ETU) or holding
center for the isolation of people
infected with the deadly Ebola
virus in Ganta or Sanniquellie,
even though evidence shows
that isolation of cases can break
transmission.
She said the hospitals were
advised by experts including
the World Health Organization
representative to Liberia and
the ministry of health not to
keep Ebola patients in hospitals
where other routine services are
provided.
Consequently, all cases
(suspected, probable and
confrmed) are located in
communities where mobile
medical teams provide basic
essential drugs and basic
services, eg. inGanta, she said.
Zolia said because of this the
NimbaEbola response team,
in collaboration with the Case
Management Team in Monrovia
has been transporting confrmed
cases to Monrovia when space is
available at the ETU there.
With the current situation of
probable and confrmed cases
in Nimba (with approx. 90%
in Ganta), coupled with delay
in establishing a functional
holding center, the only logical
and sensible thing to do is to
fnd a temporary holding center
for all probable and confrmed
Ebola patients, while we wait
for transport to Monrovia
as and when space becomes
available there, she said in a
memo to authorities of the Ebola
case management team who
vehemently refused to heed to
her advice.
Today (August 31st, 2014), we
identifed a ten (10)-bedroom
government-owned community
clinic we want to convert into
a temporary holding center to
begin moving the sick patients
there, while we wait for the
holding center at Ganta Hospital
compound to be completed and
made functional.
Zolia said the best places to
manage Ebola cases are isolation
units (ETU and holding centers)
with trained health workers
but authorities in Monrovia are
advising against it.
As a result, relatives are caring
for them and they too are being
exposed to the virus, thus,
leading to spread of the disease,
she said in her memo.
In the absence of these in
the epicenter of the Ebola
epidemic in Nimba, we are
being consistently advised by
experts to keep these patients
isolated in their homes until the
holding center at Ganta Hospital
compound is ready.
But Dr. Moses Massaquoi,
National Case Management
Chair of the National Ebola
Task Force in response to
Zolias suggestion of creating
a temporary holding center
opposed to its establishment.
We would like to advice you
NOT to move the probable and
confrmed cases in one location
other than the ETUs (which
we know bed spaces are not
available at the moment). We
are working on it, he said in his
response.
It is very risky from the point
of moving if not done properly
and the danger of amplifying
in a none ETU settings where
direct care to the patients is not
the most important. Infection
prevention and control set up in a
typical ETU is the most diffcult
part. It is a mistake to compare it
with holding room strategy that
has been done in the hospitals.
Dr. Massaquoi said
recommended that patients who
are infected be kept in isolation
in their homes instead of moving
them to a temporary holding
facility as Zolia has suggested.
In the interim, we are proposing
a household level isolation (one
room isolation) where caregivers
(family members) are provided
hygiene materials to provide the
minimal care until we can move
the patients to a proper treatment
units, said Dr. Massaquoi.
Re-enforce health promotion at
each household level on how to
reduce infection
Let me acknowledge that after
telephone discussion with Dr.
Duworko, WHO and you, I
brought it up in the Incident
Management System meeting
and it was heavily discussed
with these propositions. MSF
promised to immediately provide
some of the household isolation
kits, which we will be sending
you on the available vehicle to
Nimba. In the main time, Case
Management will work with
you to quickly move the current
patients in the available spaces in
the ETUs in Monrovia.
As more people continue to die
in one household, the authorities
responsible to fnd a sensible
closure to the crisis are still
thinking of a solution. There also
seems to be some infghting in
the rank and fles of the Nimba
County Ebola response task
force as Collins SaaBowah,
County Health Offcer, Nimba
County health Team emailed
response to Zolias suggestions
shows.
Dear Minister Zolia,
Your letter does not in anyway
represent the views of the Nimba
county Ebola task force Team of
which I co-chair. I earlier advised
against this, he said.
I am getting a little
uncomfortable with the unilateral
moves you are making without
our imports especially with the
Ganta case. We have at least
temporary holding sites with a
patient or two in Tappita, and
Sarclapea: I visited yesterday.
An angry Bowah said that
people are politicizing the
Nimba County Ebola outbreak
while falling short of proffering
a solution.
Any move as you indicated will
put our health workers at the
highest risk and cause a more
diffcult problem, he said.
Let central ministry be aware
that Nimba situation is been
highy politicized, especially the
Ganta situation, and we should
be given the chance to do our
work as heath workers.
The deadly Ebola Virus Disease
was frst confrmed in Nimba
County around mid July 2014,
On Friday 25th, July 2014 at an
Ebola coordination meeting in
Sanniquellie, Nimba County, it
was reported that there were two
positive cases in Ganta that died,
with four (4) possible hotspots
where contacts were listed.
Sanniquellie registered one (1)
positive case that was still in
the community with three (3)
possible hotspots where contacts
were listed at the time.
A little over a month later, the
cumulative suspected, probable
and confrmed cases now stand
at 104 with 61 reported deaths.
The disease is now in four (4)
of the six (6) health districts
of Nimba (SanniquellieMah,
SaclepeaMah, GbehlayGeh
and Zoe Geh), with potential to
further spread.
The family in the LPMC area
continues to see members of
their household die from the
deadly Ebola virus, as authorities
in Monrovia are still pondering
over what move to make, but as
the track of the disease in Nimba
shows, time is running out.
international partners on the present state of the Ebola Epidemic
plaguing our country, Liberia.
Mr. Sirleaf will use his presentations and interactions with his
international colleagues and partners to seek additional assistance
for Liberia in furtherance to the national efforts to tackle the
spread of the deadly virus.
In a statement issued in Monrovia, the Robert Sirleaf Foundation
quotes Mr. Sirleaf as saying that it was a tough decision to leave
the country during this critical national period.
We have an unfortunate National crisis on our hands, and I know
we need all hands on deck to tackle this Ebola crisis, however,
this trip compels me to meet with our partners to brief them
on what we are doing and how they can assist our country and
people. Our people are dying daily and Im not happy as much as
all Liberians. I dont feel good. We do not want a country wherein
Ebola is killing our people so we have to do something and do it
now, said Mr. Sirleaf.
Before his departure from the country, Mr. Sirleaf led several
efforts by his foundation in raising awareness on how to prevent
contracting and spreading the disease and providing support to
underprivileged communities throughout Montserrado County,
one of the epic centers of the disease.
Mr. Sirleaf who returns shortly to the country has meanwhile,
praised the efforts of Health workers in the forefront of fghting
the disease, International Responders - the Center for Disease
Control-USA, the World Health Organization and Medicine San
Frontier (MSF) as well as other well-meaning Liberians for their
volunteer expertise and support in helping to kick the deadly
disease from Liberia and the sub-sub region.
Page 10 |
Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
IN BRIEF
IRAN'S ZARIF 'QUITE
OPTIMISTIC' OF IRAN
NUCLEAR AGREEMENT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -
I
ranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif
voiced optimism after
talks with European
Union foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton on Monday
that a dispute over Tehran's
nuclear program can be
resolved by a Nov. 24 deadline.
"I am quite optimistic after
discussions with Lady Ashton
that we can in fact resolve this
issue in time," Zarif said after
what he described as "good"
talks with Ashton.
"I hope with the readiness and
political will that I see in all
parties to this discussion to
have a resolution within the
next three months," he told a
news conference following
separate talks with Belgian
Foreign Minister Didier
Reynders.
However, he cautioned
that reaching an agreement
"requires political will, it
requires full awareness of
the need to address the issues
rather than simply domestic
constituencies".
Iran and global powers
are working to strike a
comprehensive agreement by
the Nov. 24 deadline, under
which Iran would curb its
nuclear activities in exchange
for an easing of economic
sanctions that have crippled its
economy.
An earlier deadline of July 20
was missed.
Western countries suspect
Iran's program is aimed at
seeking the capability to build
a nuclear bomb, while Tehran
insists it is peaceful.
POOR RESPONSE TO EBOLA CAUSING
NEEDLESS DEATHS: WORLD BANK HEAD
F
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PAGE
WORLD NEWS
DAKAR/LAGOS (Reuters) -
T
he world's "disastrously
inadequate response"
to West Africa's Ebola
outbreak means many
people are dying who could
easily be saved, the head of the
World Bank said on Monday, as
Nigeria confrmed another case
of the highly contagious virus.
In a newspaper editorial, World
Bank President Jim Yong Kim
said Western healthcare facilities
would easily be able to contain
the disease, and he urged wealthy
nations to share knowledge
and resources to help African
countries tackle it.
"The crisis we are watching
unfold derives less from the virus
itself and more from deadly and
misinformed biases that have
led to a disastrously inadequate
response to the outbreak," Kim
wrote in the Washington Post.
"Many are dying needlessly,"
read the editorial, co-written by
Harvard University professor
Paul Farmer with whom Kim
founded Partners In Health, a
charity that works for better
healthcare in poorer countries.
Ebola can only be transmitted
by contact with the bodily
fuids of an sick person but
rigorous measures are required
for its containment. There is no
known cure, though work on
experimental vaccines has been
accelerated.
More than 1,500 people have
been killed in West Africa in the
worst outbreak since the disease
was discovered in 1976 near
the Ebola river in what is now
Democratic Republic of Congo.
More than 3,000 people, mostly
in Sierra Leone, Guinea and
Liberia have been infected.
Poor healthcare provision has
exacerbated the challenge.
Liberia had just 50 doctors for
its 4.3 million people before
the outbreak, and many medical
workers have died of Ebola.
Shortages of basic goods,
foodstuffs, and medical
equipment have been worsened
by the decision by airlines to stop
fying to the worst hit countries.
USAID ANNOUNCES
$5 MILLION IN
ADDITIONAL
ASSISTANCE FOR
WEST AFRICA
EBOLA RESPONSE
Washington
T
he U.S. Agency
for International
Development (USAID)
is providing an
additional $5 million to help
combat the Ebola outbreak in
West Africa. The announcement
brings USAIDs commitment for
the Ebola response to nearly $19.6
million since the outbreak was frst
reported in March 2014.
Jeremy Konyndyk, Director of
USAIDs Offce of U.S. Foreign
Disaster Assistance, announced the
additional funding in Monrovia,
Liberia, during his three-day visit
with Dr. Tom Frieden, Director
of the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Konyndyk and Frieden arrived in
Monrovia on August 24 to assess
the impact of the Ebola outbreak
frst-hand, review response
activities, and discuss disease
prevention and treatment strategies
with Liberian offcials.
It will take a coordinated effort by
the entire international community
to contain the spread of Ebola,
said Konyndyk. The United
States is working closely with the
World Health Organization, the
governments of affected countries,
and other partners on the ground
to identify the greatest needs
and deploy critical resources to
affected areas.
Several neighboring states have
closed their borders and many
international organizations have
pulled their foreign staff.
The World Health Organization
said last week that casualty
fgures may be up to four times
higher than reported and said up
to 20,000 people may be affected
before the outbreak ends. It
launched a $490 million plan to
contain the epidemic.
Kim and Farmer said that if
international organizations and
wealthy nations mounted a
coordinated response with West
African nations using the WHO
plan, the fatality rate could drop
to below 20 percent - from 50
percent now.
"We are at a dangerous moment,"
they wrote. "Tens of thousands
of lives, the future of the region
and hard-won economic and
health gains for millions hang in
the balance."
"DERISORY"
Nigeria confrmed a third case
of Ebola on Monday in the oil
hub of Port Harcourt, bringing
the total confrmed infections
nationwide to 16, with around
200 people under surveillance.
A doctor in Port Harcourt died
last week after treating a contact
of the Liberian-American man
who was the frst recorded case
of the virus in Africa's most
populous country. That raised
alarm that Ebola, which looked
on the verge of being contained
in the commercial capital, Lagos,
may fare up elsewhere.
Senegal, a transport hub and
center for aid agencies, became
the ffth African nation to confrm
a case of Ebola on Friday, a
21-year-old Guinean student
who had evaded surveillance
in his homeland and arrived in
Dakar.
"People should know that if it
were not for this boy's state of
health, he would be before the
courts," President Macky Sall
told state television. "You cannot
be a carrier of sickness and take
it to other countries."
Some shops in the bustling
Senegalese capital ran out of
hand sanitizer on Monday as
concerned residents stocked up.
The house and shop owned by the
student's relatives in the densely
populated Dakar neighborhood
of Parcelles Assainies was
disinfected by health teams.
Authorities placed 20 people
who had come into contact with
the student under surveillance
and were giving them twice daily
health checks.
Medical charity Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) called for the
rapid deployment of staff and
resources.
"The international response is
slow and derisory. It can equally
be defned as irresponsible,"
MSF said.
(Additional reporting by Pascal
Fletcher in Johannesburg, Diadie
Ba in Dakar, Tansa Musa in
Cameroon, James Harding in
Monrovia; Editing by Robin
Pomeroy)
LIBERIA SECURITY GETS BULK OF EBOLA MONEY
Monrovia-
T
he outbreak of the
deadly Ebola virus in
Liberia has exposed
the broken health
sector with the country showing
its inability to fght the virus
but the Government in its
renewed effort to fght the virus
has disbursed more than eight
hundred thousand United States
dollars to security entities nearly
equaling amount disbursed to the
Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare which is spearheading
the fght against Ebola in all 15
counties.
Already some of the measures
imposed by the Government
have been viewed as having
security implications with the
government mute on making
clarity but the disbursement
of almost US$ 1 million to the
Armed Forces of Liberia, the
Liberian National Police and
the Bureau of Immigration and
Naturalization further gives
some weight to rumors that
there is security dimension to the
Governments ongoing response
to Ebola.
With more than four million
disbursed by the Government to
various ministries and agencies
in an attempt to fght the virus,
things are getting worse,
showing that management is a
better option than money.
FrontPageAfrica has gathered
that the Government of Liberia
has disbursed a cumulative
amount of US$4,701,558.68
to ministries and agencies
including the Ministry of Health
and Social Welfare, Internal
Affairs, the Ministry of Defense,
Bureau of Immigration and
Naturalization, the Task Force
Center, The Ministry of State for
Presidential Affairs, the Liberian
National Police and the Ministry
of Information, Culture and
Tourism.
While health workers shunning
medical facilities demanding
more incentives and insurance
one Ebola survivor, a Liberian
Physician Assistant who worked
at the C. H. Rennie Hospital in
Kakata, Margibi County Kyndy
Kobbah PA in the presence of
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
appealed to the Government
to increase incentives to health
workers but despite these calls,
the government disbursed a
total of US$805,912.25 to
the Ministry of Defense, the
Liberian National Police and
the Bureau of Immigration and
Naturalization.
The Ministry of Information,
Culture and Tourism statutorily
responsible to disseminate
information also received a
total US$17,500 while the
Ministry of State with no
health related program received
US$160,000.00.
As of August 22, the government
indicated that it has collected
a total of US$5,228,250 and
L$9,310,000 from sources
including the Government
of Liberia contributing
US$5,000,000; Central Bank of
Liberia-US$100,000; Liberia
Petroleum Refning Compnay-
US$75,000; Charles A. Sirleaf-
US$500; Unidentifed donors
US$44,250 and L$ 1,010,000
and the National Social Security
and Welfare Corporation
L$8,300,000.
The disbursement by the
Government means the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare
which has 15 counties under its
control will have to share the
amount in combating the virus.
Five counties are so far showing
high number of cases and deaths
including Lofa, Montserrado,
Margibi, Bong and Nimba
counties with Nimba now
reporting increase in the number
of Ebola cases.
Grand Bassa County is also
another county showing threats
of the increase in the virus and
besides mainly South Eastern
Counties; ten counties have
reported cases of Ebola with
threats of potential increase.
The disbursement of
US$1,416,293.26 and
L$121,000,000 to the Ministry
of Health leaves the Ministry
almost on par with the amount
disbursed to the three security
agencies since it has to disburse
funding to the various counties
mainly the 10 counties reporting
cases of Ebola and even the
other counties for awareness and
other programs geared towards
fghting Ebola.
Some international organizations
have blamed mismanagement
and other forms of corruption for
inability of the three countries,
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
to fght the Ebola virus.
Sierra Leonean President Ernest
B. Koroma recently sacked the
Health Minister of that country
for poorly managing the Ebola
outbreak.
Four Million Disbursed; More Money on Defense,
LNP, Immigration amid virus threat

Frontpage
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Page 11
Sports
SPORTS
OFFICIAL: TORRES JOINS
AC MILAN ON LOAN
OFFICIAL: BAYERN SIGN
YOUNGSTER KURT
OFFICIAL: REMY SIGNS FOR CHELSEA
F
ernando Torres has
completed his move
from Chelsea to
AC Milan on a two-
year loan deal after passing a
medical on Sunday, with the
two clubs having agreed terms
on Friday.
The Spain international has
endured a troubled career at
Stamford Bridge, struggling for
form following his then British
record-breaking 63 million
move from Liverpool, but will
now stay with the Rossoneri
until 2016.
Goal reported the San Siro
outft's interest earlier this
week, though there had been
fears that the deal could
collapse over the 30-year-old's
214,000-a-week wages, but
the two sides have worked hard
to reach an agreement.
B
ayern Munich
have announced
the signing
of Borussia
Monchengladbach youngster
Sinan Kurt for an undisclosed
fee.
The midfelder, 18, is yet
to feature in a frst-team
league match, but made 24
appearances in the Under-19
Bundesliga for Gladbach last
season.
Kurt, a Germany Under-18
international, enjoyed a
prolifc 2013-14 campaign
netting 16 goals to help his
side to a sixth-placed fnish
and his efforts have earned
him a four-year deal with Pep
Guardiola's men.
Q
PR striker Loic
Remy has signed
a four-year deal
with Chelsea after
the west Londoners met his
8.5 million buyout clause.
As revealed by Goal on
Friday, the Blues reignited
their interest in the France
international after reaching a
deal to loan Fernando Torres
to AC Milan.
Arsenal made a late move
to hijack Remy's move to
Chelsea, but soon dropped
their interest to pave the way
for the striker to move to
Stamford Bridge.


F
emale Boxer
Bintou Schmill
"The VOICE"
will fght on the
ring on* *26.September
2014 ,time 18.00 hour
in Stadthalle/ Saalbau
Frankfurt-Nied, in
Germany*
African ladies are
otherwise known for other
things than Boxing, except
for this one who is changing
and making the story looks
different. Ms.Bintou Yawa
Schmill, 29 years young, a
totally black African breed
1.71m, Togo born and
based in Germany, started
her boxing career at a tender
age. Something she did as
an Amature has become a
success story. She wickedly
punched competitors,
* MEET THE AFRICAN GERMAN BASED FEMALE BOXER
BINTOU YAWA SCHMILL ALSO KNOWN AS "THE VOICE"*
MUMMED RONALDO
I cant say what I really think about Real Madrid reshaping
C
ristiano Ronaldo
has claimed he
"can't say what
he thinks" about
Real Madrid's summer
transfer moves but hinted
he was unhappy at the way
the club have reshaped their
squad.
Xabi Alonso, Angel Di
Maria, Diego Lopez and
Alvaro Morata have all left
the Bernabeu, while Monday
saw the reigning European
champions make their fourth
major signing with Javier
Hernandez joining recent
arrivals Keylor Navas, Toni
Kroos and James Rodriguez.
Fifa Ballon dOr and Goal
50 winner Ronaldo certainly
didnt offer a glowing
endorsement to the clubs
activity in the current transfer
window which closes tonight.
"I have my strong opinions,
but I cant always say what I
think. Otherwise, tomorrow it
would be on the front pages
and I dont want that, he told
the press at a media event for
watchmaker Tag Heuer.
But if the president thinks
the best for the team is to sign
players who joined and leave
out others, we must respect
and support his decisions.
The 29-year-old Portugal
international admitted the
changes in personnel would
inevitably result in a change
in the teams style - while
the losses of Di Maria and
Alonso, cornerstones of
the club's Decima success
last term to Manchester
United and Bayern Munich
respectively, would be keenly
felt.
With all the new players the
style will change, for better or
worse he said.
Di Maria and Xabi were very
important to us but now they
are gone and we should be
happy with the new players.
I'm sure we'll be fne.
Ronaldo is currently
recovering from a knee injury
that saw him sit out his sides
surprise 4-2 defeat to Real
Sociedad at the weekend, but
says he expects to back within
a week.
Yesterday I went for a run.
I'm sure in a week I'll be back
one hundred percent, he
said, before warning his team-
mates they cannot repeat the
complacent performance that
saw them lose a two-goal lead
on Sunday.
It was a strange game, we
were 2-0 up after minutes,
but then things changed. We
have taken it as a lesson that
we cannot think a match is
already won. We must fght to
the end.
messlessly and won 24
fghts ,and 2 draw in the
category welterweight
-64Kg.
Her fngerprint show her
since 2007, to have been
a professional boxer with
unbeatable record of 4
fghts, 4wins in a package
including 3 K. O Her
case study is exceptional,
she has not only broken
the gender rule, shes
representing the African
continent in a Boxing ring ,
punching evil out the brains
of her competitors, Bintou
is the Lioness that roars and
the Lions make a way. Now
shes back on stage, live
and ready for a face2face
catch, one on one.
Any brave hearted out there
to sponsor and make a name
with Bintou? Bintou needs
you to make it happen
a man is a man because of
another man UBUNTU
www.frontpageafricaonline.com
Sports
FrontPage
PRICE L$40 VOL 8 NO.667 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

MUMMED
RONALDO
see story on page 11
I cant say what I really think about
Real Madrid reshaping
Spot News FrontPage
BEATING THE MENACE
T
he Voice FM 102.7
and The Costa Show
family, walked the talk
in the fght against Ebola
Monday with a sizeable donation
to the John F. Kennedy Medical
Center, the ELWA Ebola Isolation
Unit.
Accompanied by friends and
supporters; AB Darius Dillon, Ben
Sanvee and Frederick Anderson,
the station made several items
which included; 95 bags of 25 KG
rice, 100 bed-sheets, 50 plastic
buckets, 10 plastic water drums,
33 aluminum tubs, 10 gallons
of Clorax, 100 paper plates, 100
stainless steel spoons, 100 bathing
towels and 12 brooms.
Donation was also made to
Kpotolomah, Bong County, the
hometown of Health Minister
Walter Gwenigale, which has just
recorded a massive Ebola outbreak.
Mr. Costa says the gesture was the
station means of identifying with
communities across the country
and raising the hope of patients in
this crucial time of a major health
epidemic. We shall beat this
deadly menace out of our beloved
country, Costa said.
VOICE FM, COSTA SHOW AID EBOLA EFFORT AT JFK, ELWA