EBOLA UPDATE
The Mayor of Kenema, J.S. Kelfala has told a radio
station in Freetown that Members of Parliament in Sierra
Leone have refused to approve the Kenema City Council’s
2015 budget because he refused to pay a bribe of Le20
million (twenty million Leones) to each member of the
Parliamentary Finance Committee. He said his refusal to
pay the requested bribe to the said parliamentary
committee members is the reason why the council’s
budget was not approved. The accusation came after a
ruling party MP has alleged that certain documents were
absent from the council’s budget, and that parliament
had summoned the Mayor and his Chief Administrator to
appear before them in respect of the matter. Kelfala
argues that the council’s revenue generation programs
have been halted by the Ebola epidemic. Kenema has
been quarantined for months now.
Newspaper reports in Freetown indicate a chain of
corruption-related activities involving theft of Ebola funds
by national authorities.