By Mohamed Massaquoi
An ambulance belonging to the SOCFIN agricultural company has been intercepted at an Ebola check point at Bendu Junction in the Malen chiefdom in Pujehun transporting a dead body from Bo district.
This was confirmed by the district security coordinator, the Office of National Security, district police officer, the military, civil society, the district council chairman and other stakeholders in Pujehun.
ONS officer in Pujehun, Samuel Tarawally, referred to the company as “a disappointment”. He added: “This is undermining the government of Sierra Leone and its fight to eradicate Ebola in the country by contravening the state of emergency declared by President Ernest Bai Koroma.”
He said that the emergency measures included that “all bodies must be buried in places where they died and except where a death certificate from the ministry of health and sanitation can confirm its movement.’’
He also alleged that the company, including some stakeholders in the district, had greatly undermined security decisions. He warned them against “threatening security personnel with transfer if they did not embrace their operations in the district" which he said was a complete attempt to demoralise the service personnel and deter them from carrying out their operations.
The security intelligence officer also vowed to take the issue up with their head office in Freetown, especially “the way in which the company is undermining the Ebola fight in the country.”
The Pujehun police division chief, Superintendent Nathaniel Brewa complained that “the attitude of local authorities in the chiefdom, with regards their operations and in taking decision against the company is very much frustrating”, adding that they were putting the lives of the entire district at risk.
He called on the district to take strong actions against the company for “undermining the president" in the fight to eradicate Ebola in the country.
“I was even attacked in a phone conversation by the Chiefdom Speaker, Robert Moigua who insulted me simply because I had arrested their ambulance and the driver" Brewa said. He went on to say that Moigua threatened to "withdraw whatever financial support they were giving to any other areas in the district."
When contacted by Politico, Chief Moigua admitted to the allegation against him by the police and asked for forgiveness.
Pujehun District Officer (D.O), Andrew Fofanah, said the only thing that would satisfy them would be for the police to arrest the entire management of Socfin “for undermining the government of the country in the fight to save the lives of people.”
He said the company should realise that it was incumbent upon them to give support to the district as they were investing on the land of the people.
He said the public hospital in the district had referred to the accompanying death certificate as “fake and not authentic’’ and that the corpse should not be buried in the district. He added that the district had had seven confirmed Ebola deaths and that there had also been a confirmed case in Malen chiefdom.
Council Chairman, Sadiq Sillah, totally condemned the act and ordered that the corpse be taken back to Bo and the vehicle be fumigated. He also warned that anybody who tried to undermine the efforts would be dealt with according to law.
When contacted, the Human Resource Officer of SOCFIN, Abu Amara said the act was not deliberate but one meant to assist the chiefdom whose local authorities had requested for their help.
He said it was never their intention to undermine the government in their fight against Ebola, adding that the company had made an input in the fight against the disease.
(C) Politico 04/09/14
