Contrary to what detractors of the Sierra Leone government based abroad especially those in the US think or want to think, funds that will be collected to assist or enhance the Ebola post-recovery efforts in the devastated countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will be managed by international non-governmental organizations and their local counterparts.
None of the three governments will touch those funds or even supervise how they are managed. That has been the agreed procedure in all the countries since the Ebola outbreak but we keep hearing of people in all three countries casting aspersions and expressing dissatisfaction on how the said funds were disbursed or managed. This kind of behaviour is more pronounced in Sierra Leone and among so-called Sierra Leonean "dissidents" abroad who should know better.
We have noted however that the UN is stepping up efforts to educate people on what has been going on in New York since yesterday as to where the money is coming from and how it will be spent. That is crucial.
As to locally raised money in Sierra Leone, Parliament did an investigation on how that money was disbursed following a report from the Auditor-General. Parliament had presented its findings to the relevant authorities months ago for action. And there will be action; it’s only a question of time.
There have been calls for NGOs operating in Sierra Leone who have been involved in the Ebola fight to submit their own reports too. We know they will do so in the course of time, maybe after the war against Ebola would have been won.
Patience is therefore needed from all and sundry.
And thanks to Ban ki Moon and the UN for organizing this conference, a conference that will seriously shape the destiny of the three countries involved. These are countries even though rich in natural resources still need help from the international community to deal with this disease that threatens to destroy whatever levels of development they had attained since they became sovereign nations.
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