Sierra Leone News: ECOWAS Court Resumes Hearing on Misuse of Ebola Fund in S/Leone

By Alusine Sesay

The ECOWAS Court resumes hearing today in the case of two Ebola survivor Health workers VS the Government of Sierra Leone.

Today’s hearing come after the ECOWAS Court grant seven month adjournment (February 26) to allow Sierra Leone government explores out-of-court settlement.

According to trusted sources, no settlement has been reached.

The Two Ebola survivors and an NGO sued the government of Sierra Leone at the ECOWAS Court in Abuja, Nigeria, claiming that misappropriated Ebola funds led to the aggravation and needless death of citizens which otherwise should not have been.

The court’s rulings are legally binding, but some past decisions have, in practice, been ignored by member states.

Sierra Leone’s Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) help brought the case to court.

The plaintiffs are seeking financial compensation, an acknowledgement that their rights were violated, and the formation of a national commission to investigate civil and criminal liability from the alleged misuse of funds.

The case was filed in January 2018, by CARL and two Ebola survivors (plaintiffs). The Sierra Leone Government has written twice (in July and Nov 2018) to the plaintiffs that they preferred the case out of court.

Yet, the Government has not come forth to settle up till today.

On February 26, 2019, the court dismissed the NGO request for joining the other parties in the case, the Sierra Leonean Association of Ebola Saviors (SLAES), on grounds that the organization is not a legal one.

SLAES president Yusuf Kabba said that it was unfortunate that the court denied their request to be one of the plaintiffs in the case. He disclosed that the group is made of 4,052 Ebola survivors.