The impromptus resignation of head of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Mr. Tolbert Nyenswah this week has created more questions than answers as dozens of Liberians who were greeted with this latest news about the resignation of Mr. Nyenswah who is currently in the United States are said to be bewildered over this latest stance by the NPHIL boss.
Following the , submission of his resignation letter to President George Manneh Weah which was subsequently accepted by the President, GNN investigation has discovered that the move by the NPHIL boss was allegedly done due to reported pressure from the highest ups, after his alleged refusal to handover some funding that he reportedly secured from a US based Center for Disease Control (CDC) to provide surveillances for any unexpected diseases in Liberia.
According to GNN US based source, the amount not mentioned was reportedly secured by Mr. Nyenswah from the United States’ Center for Disease Control (CDC) aimed improving the country’s health sector and to build the capacity of the NPHIL, but unfortunately was allegedly asked to handover the amount involved, a demand, according to the source he reportedly refused to do which, according to the source subsequently led to his resignation while in the United States. The source also revealed that Mr. Nyenswah was allegedly asked to transfer the money sent by the CDC for the sole use of the NPHIL into government account, this accordingly he refuse to also do.
In a related development, information reaching this outlet has disclosed that the resigned NPHIL boss is to shortly be indicted by the government of Liberia for what the source said for several legal reasons.
However, GNN is making all frantic effort to ascertain the facts regarding this report.
The Tolbert Nyenswah became a household name during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus which took the lives of thousands of Liberians; his role played was admired by many in the prevention of this disease. 6,574 cases of deaths were reported. Among the five affected countries of West Africa (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, and Senegal).
Liberia has had the highest number cases (3,458). This epidemic has severely strained the public health and health care infrastructure of Liberia, has resulted in restrictions in civil liberties, and has disrupted international travel. As part of the initial response, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) developed a national task force and technical expert committee to oversee the management of the Ebola-related activities.
During the third week of July 2014, CDC deployed a team of epidemiologists, data management specialists, emergency management specialists, and health communicators to assist MOHSW in its response to the growing Ebola epidemic. One aspect of CDC’s response was to work with MOHSW in instituting incident management system (IMS) principles to enhance the organization of the response. This report describes MOHSW’s Ebola response structure as of mid-July, the plans made during the initial assessment of the response structure, the implementation of interventions aimed at improving the system, and plans for further development of the response structure for the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.
Detail follow in our subsequent posting
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