By Francis H. Murray
Police last Tuesday thwarted a planned demonstration by residents of Mountain Cut and its surrounding communities over a management dispute at the community hospital.
The leadership dispute at the Macaulley Street Government Hospital led to its closing down for at least two days in the last two weeks, due to strike action by the staff.
Sources said the incident was the culmination of over two weeks of rancor sparked by the controversial appointment of a new Medical Superintendent.
Dr. Amadu Alusine Juana, who served as Medical Superintendent since last year, was briefly removed and replaced with his deputy, Dr Ibrahim Kamara, early this month. After just about two weeks in office, the appointment of Dr Kamara was reversed.
But the community people and some of the hospital staff would rather stick with Dr Kamara, accusing Dr Juana of presiding over a corrupt administration.
The protesting nurses, complained poor working condition and unfriendly relationship with Dr. Juana. Patients were left stranded on Friday March 13 and Monday March 16, Politico learnt.
A source within the hospital confirmed that they had resumed work since Tuesday, March 17, after an appeal by the Matron, pending investigation into the issues.
The community people, mostly from the Hill Side Bypass Road in Ward 428, say the poor working relationship between the staff and the Medical Superintendent was negatively impacting the smooth running of the hospital.
The Macauley Street Government Hospital is located in the center of Freetown. It is situated between the communities of
Mountain Cut and Circular Road. These are two of the most populated suburbs of the city, where the people are confronted with various social and health issues.
According to some of the angry residents who spoke to Politico, they’d wanted to embark on the protest on Tuesday to demand answers to the cause of a fire incident two weeks ago which destroyed the medical store.
They believe the fire outbreak was connected to the leadership tussle which they say is also the result of infighting within the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
Sources familiar with the leadership infighting within the hospital told Politico that Dr Juana was initially appointed by Dr Amara Jambai, who was Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the time. When Dr Jambai was appointed Deputy Minister of Health 2, his successor as CMO, Dr Donald Bash Taqi, reportedly rescinded Dr Juana’s appointment and replaced him with Dr Kamara.
Ramatu Baby Sesay, Deputy Chairlady of the Hill Side Bypass Road community, said she and other community stakeholders helped calm down the tension when the police went to foil the planned protest.
“I was called by the Chairlady this morning so I decided to meet her outside to witness what was happening. When I got there, I met the Deputy Chairlady and some community youths who said they were embarking on a protest to know what the cause of the recent fire that burnt part of the hospital was. And these youths were the very ones who came out in their numbers that day to put out the fire. They said they needed an explanation. They said that they no longer needed Dr. Juana and two others - the Clerk and the Administrator. So we stopped them and thankfully, with the arrival of the police who helped in the mediation process, the protest was halted,’’ she explained.
Deputy community chairman, Yayah Fofanah, said that the concerns of the community people were genuine because the hospital was not serving only the community but the country as a whole.
‘‘We’ve written the management of the hospital noting all these concerns, including the fact that some things were happening wrong in the hospital that didn’t go down well with the community. But we’ve been ignored on all occasions. The hospital has some corrupt people who we said were no longer needed because they are not working in the interest of the community and the country,” Fofanah said.
He lamented that even the ambulance in the hospital is not used for the benefit of the community. He explained that when an emergency issue was reported in the community and it coincided with another one outside the community, the hospital management would rather give priority to the one outside the community because of financial inducement.
“So we’re saying that the community cannot work with these people,’’ Fofanah stressed.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation declined to comment on the issue when contacted by Politico, noting that they didn’t want to prejudice the matter as it was under investigation.
Both Dr. Juana and Dr Kamara refused to comment when contacted, citing the same reason of fear of prejudicing the investigation.
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