Clement Dodoo, President, Commercial Banks Association
By Joseph Lamin Kamara
The Sierra Leone Association of Commercial Banks (SLACB) on Friday July 18 donated Le 150 million to the Government of Sierra Leone Ebola Fund through the Ministry of Health.
Speaking on behalf of the association at a ceremony held at the Hill Valley hotel in Freetown, the president of the association, Clement Dodoo, who doubles as the Managing Director of Ecobank SL, expressed their commitment to the Sierra Leonean Community. As he presented the cheque, Dodoo affirmed their commitment in the fight against the haemorrhagic fever which has claimed the lives of around 130 people in especially the east of the country.
He said they were aware of the Ebola outbreak, and that if ‘’uncontained’’ would pose a serious threat to the business climate of the country. “That’s why we have invested in hand sanitizers, disinfectants as a way of curtailing the virus and sensitizing people” he said, adding that they realised "the challenges in the fight are enormous’’ and “the efforts of the fighters of Ebola shouldn’t go unrewarded.”
Receiving the cheque, Minister of Health Miatta Kargbo thanked the association and assured that the money would be used for its intended purpose. She announced that her ministry was “putting up a website’’ for the sake of “transparency and accountability,’’ for the public to know how donor monies were being and would be used.
The minister pleaded with the banks to continue helping in the fight against Ebola stressing: “What we really need is cash.” She urged the banks saying as they worked “on your contingency plans, work with us”, an apparent reference to the possible closure of banks or their branches as a result of the outbreak to which the Ecobank boss assured that “no branch will close down”.
The cheque was handed over to the representative of the ministry’s permanent secretary, Festus Kuyembeh.
Present at the event were the heads of all 13 commercial banks in the country and the WHO country representative, Dr Jacob Mufunda.
(C) Politico 22/07/14
