By Aminata Phidelia Allie
The Mayor of Freetown says he will go to whatever length to ensure Ebola is completely eradicated from the country, “even to the point of laying down my life”.
Speaking at a joint presser organised by the Flaming Evangelical Ministries and Destiny Shipping Agencies, Mayor Franklyn Bode Gibson said the disease could only be stopped through divine intervention, adding that “it is above traditional healing”.
He said he was particularly sorrowful over the death of Sierra Leoneans “with whom we all have been fighting the unseen enemy”. He said Ebola was far more fearful than any other enemy because “it is not physical”.
The mayor observed that the deceased doctors and nurses had not been fighting for themselves but to save the lives of others. He said most citizens were still denying the existence of the disease. “Instead they are politicising it. They have refused to look beyond politics and see the danger of the Ebola virus”, he said, noting that Ebola had already claimed the lives of both the ruling party and the opposition.
Before announcing a Le 100 million donation towards the Ebola struggle, General Overseer of Flaming Bible Church, Bishop Abu Koroma observed that the disease had not only destroyed Sierra Leoneans but had also planted a stigma on the country. He added that the whole world had distanced themselves from Sierra Leone by us with the cancellation of flights.
Part of the above amount, the Bishop said, would be used for the provision of 200 bags of rice for Kailahun and Kenema. He said they would also provide the Freetown municipality with 200 plastic buckets and hand sanitizers to help combat the spread of the disease.
The Bishop also said that they would provide financial assistance to families of late medical personnel who had died of Ebola, adding that they would provide food items to those who have been quarantined within the municipality.
He said the two establishments had also decided to help sponsor the administration of experimental drugs to those who had been quarantined.
“As a church we want to extend our magnanimity to those who have already been identified with Ebola”, the Bishop stated, furthering that the fight should not be tribal, regional or political. “It is a national issue that requires a national response irrespective of our affiliations”, he urged.
The shipping agency’s CEO, Reverend Cornelius Max-Williams, observed that the Ebola disease was not just in the bodies of Sierra Leoneans but also on their minds. He said the minds of people had been so eaten up by the fear of the disease to the extent that people were not only dying of the virus but also of the fear of the disease.
He continued that most people were scared to go to the hospitals for fear of being branded “carriers of Ebola”.
(C) Politico 28/08/14
