Government institutions and associates including individuals previously enmeshed in the massive misappropriation of Ebola funds and went scot-free with impunity for political reasons must be shivering with fear, following ECOWAS court’s probe into the alleged fraud.

The court’s investigation prayed for by Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) together with two aggrieved Ebola survivors will now look into the outrageous embezzlement of the Ebola funds from the human right perspective which in turn will certainly expose the consortium and individuals that amassed ill-gotten wealth.

Following severe public backlash on the blatant financial fraud surrounding the utilization of Ebola funds meant to help combat the deadly Ebola virus that killed thousands as outlined in the Audit report, former President Koroma instructed the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament to immediately investigate the damning fraud and ensure every single cent spent from the Ebola kitty is accounted for with documentary evidence.

In the investigation chaired by the then deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Hon Chernoh Bah, numerous government institutions including the Ministry of Health, the National Ebola Response Center, private institutions and individuals were seriously implicated for failing to account for millions of Leones spent.
Charles Mambu, head of a renowned civil society called Health For All Coalition was also accused of receiving a cheque of Le 200M in his name to help fight the deadly Ebola Outbreak instead of his institution which raised serious eyebrows among the general public.

Another alarming dubious fraud that was uncovered was the exorbitant and cunning cost of the ambulances purchased by the relevant authority to aid the deadly Ebola fight of which many of them did not serve their intended purposes because they were discovered faulty on arrival.

The report also states that, Ramesco General Supplies, Kingdom Security Logistics, CL Group Royal International Supplies, Kamasseh Construction and Engineering Services and others were also awarded contracts illegally coupled with several damning allegations.

Disappointedly, after these disclosures, the public was left in total darkness since Parliament never got back to the masses, especially the survivors and donor partners to tell them whether the issues surrounding the misuse of these funds had been cleared.

Hence the paradigm twist in the Ebola investigation anchored on the violation of survivor’s right to life and right to health will now expose the blatant massive corruption of the Ebola funds that had been shrouded in secrecy for political reasons at the detriment to the survivors.

It is no secret that, many past government officials, private sectors and individuals linked with the use of the Ebola funds have directly and indirectly amassed ill-gotten wealth from the scheme with feasibly kick-backs to their pay masters to cover their dubious activities.