Commentary
In a telephone conversation with a friend recently, he described money donated in the fight against Ebola in our country as Kasankay money. A Kasankay is a shroud or white cloth used by Muslims to bury the dead. Muslims in Sierra Leone and elsewhere do not normally use caskets, they simply wrap the the cloth or Kasankay (its name among the Temne in northern Sierra Leone) around the deceased and bury them the same day they pass away.
The moment somebody dies, therefore, some one is sent to the nearest store to buy the Kasankay and anybody that tampers with or runs away with that money and fails to buy the Kasankay is considered the greatest of all criminals among the Temnes and indeed among other ethnic groups in Sierra Leone.
To the Temne people of Sierra Leone therefore, any money that has been put aside for a very important and delicate purpose is often described as "Kasankay money", not to be messed with.
So to my friend, who is Temne, Ebola money is like Kasankay money. Other Sierra Leoneans call it blood money. Stealing or misappropriating that kind of money is too much to stomach among the majority of Sierra Leoneans.
Now, there has been an uproar in the country recently after the publication of a report on Ebola by the Audit Service headed by Auditor General Lara Taylor-Pearce.
To be fair to her, Taylor-Pearce did not say anybody actually stole any money; she merely said there is a RISK involved when you hand over huge amounts of money to individuals without appropriate documentation. She is only saying hey, let’s follow the correct procedure.
But Sierra Leone having a largely illiterate population, it’s very easy for things to be misconstrued and people to be humiliated and disgraced before you can say Jack Robinson or Yapo Kamara.
President Ernest Koroma, was acutely aware of the danger involved as he collected cheques for the Ebola fund at State House and handed them over to the Deputy Health Minister to be deposited in one of the banks.
He knew some people in the country have itchy fingers when it comes to money, that was why he was constantly warning against misappropriating Ebola money. He could only warn because nobody with brains would expect him to spend time checking how Ebola money was spent, checking every receipt and other documents. That was why he appointed qualified people to do that job. If they fail or allow thieves to have a field day they can of course face the consequences with the thieves. If they are thieves themselves they should expect double punishment (loss of job and jail time). A double-double coffee latte.
I do not know however if this is the right time to come out with such a report since Ebola is very much with us still. Some people think it might jeopardise the anti-ebola fighting machine as officials involved run around to get documents to prove their innocence. Guinea and Liberia have suspected Ebola thieves too from what I have read elsewhere, but the governments in those countries seem to wait for an appropriate time to hit back.
We in Sierra Leone have already done it and it has enormously pleased many Sierra Leoneans and the international community. Except for the people who have been "invited" by the Anti-Corruption Commission to go in for questioning. Note that they have only been invited, not accused of any wrong-doing yet. I wonder if the police will also send in their own invitation letters or use the phone.
Again, some other people think it’s okay to publish the report now because you never know when Ebola will totally disappear. It’s better to stop the perceived looting now before it’s too late, they argue.
On the other hand some government officials are saying when Ebola was raging like a bush fire a few months ago they did not have time for paper work and heavy bureaucracy to disburse funds in the fight against the disease. Who had time to fix an appointment with some bread and Akara eater at Audit Service in those days?, they ask.
Anyway, the report is now out, no need crying over it. Corrections should be made while the mopping up operations against Ebola are being carried out.
Meanwhile, stay away from Ebola Kasankay money and try to get those receipts, guys. President Koroma has been warning you about this money. Why don’t you listen to him?
Comments