New Health Minister Confirmation Threatens Over Workers’ Demands

The Liberian Senate Committee on Health Monday held confirmation proceedings for two of the four candidates nominated by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the Ministry of Health. Dr. Francis Kateh and Mr. Edward B. Tolbert, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Health Minister for Administration designate respectively, met the senate committee without Dr. Bernice Dahn and Tolbert Nyenswah Minister and Deputy Minister for Preventive Services designate respectively.

According to the Committee Chairman, Senator Peter Coleman, (Congress for Democratic Change-Grand Kru County) the two nominees could not appear before the senate because committee members agreed that the nominees appear two at a time to provide the Senators the opportunity to ask important questions on the health sector.

On whether the Committee is giving any consideration to the allegations against Dr. Dahn and Nyenswah by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) on the alleged misapplication of Ebola funds, he said, the committee will go ahead with confirmation proceedings. Senator Coleman said: “That will be left with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). That report is being evaluated and they will make the necessary recommendation and the legislature will act upon that recommendation.”

Senator Coleman, who chairs the committee that denied Mr. George Werner as Health Minister said, despite the decision to leave the issue of the GAC report with the PAC each senator on the committee has a vote to decide the confirmation of the two. “At the committee level, each senator has a vote and at the plenary level, each senator has a vote and if a senator decides that by virtue of the fact that because these people are being accused by the GAC will influence his or her vote than that is it”, Senator Coleman said.

Speaking on the issue of protesting health workers and whether that could influence the decision of the senate to deny Dr. Dahn and Nyenswah, he said, Dr. Dahn has responded to the health workers complaints against her to the senate and that response will be read in plenary as was done with the health workers and decision on the next step will be left with the senate.

Health workers last month wrote the Liberian Senate requesting that body to deny the health minister designate because according to them she has been part of an administration with no interest in the welfare of health workers demonstrated by failure to place on payroll sacrificing health workers and refusal by former Minister, Dr. Walter Gwenigale to reinstate dismissed health workers.

Commenting on Deputy Minister Nyenswah’s position - deputy minister for preventive services Senator Coleman said, the position has not been legislated and probably the President could provide a proposal for amendment to the law but noted that until that is done Deputy Minister Nyenswah is not a candidate for confirmation.

Currently, the Ministry is no longer Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, it is now the Ministry of Health and Senator Colman believes that the act that will change the Ministry as Ministry of Health might have the amendment calling for the position of Deputy Minister for Preventive Services.

Nyenswah, the Head of the country’s Incident Management System (IMS), the organization that coordinates Government Ebola Virus Disease efforts has been implicated by the GAC in financial and administrative malpractices at the Ministry of Health during the audit of the Ministry for the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 fiscal years.

He served as Deputy Head of the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) during the audit period and was recently nominated by President Ellen Jonson-Sirleaf as a Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health. The nominations come amid growing concerns about how Liberia intends to improve its broken health system in the aftermath of the deadly Ebola outbreak.

Putting 4,000 health workers on payroll

At the confirmation hearing, Deputy Health Minister for administration designate Tolbert said if confirmed, he will work with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MOFD) to generate 9 Million to place on payroll 4,000 health workers who are currently providing voluntary services. He also promised to work in encouraging international partners to come in with a support.

Tolbert, who worked as an Auditor, and audited several government agencies, including the Health Ministry said, the MOH like all other Ministries has problems and as an Auditor he has been wondering how some of what he saw happened. “I have seen many things as an auditor and I sometimes wonder how these things I have seen happened,” he stated.

The Deputy Health Minister for administration also promised to make himself available to the Legislature Public Accounts Committee, where they may need him to respond to issues raised in audit reports he participated in. “Should the PAC call upon me based on finding in the audit report I will put my audit hat on. The MOH is not clean”, Tolbert said.

For his part Dr. Kateh promised to also negotiate with health workers in case of problems and ensure that workers are encouraged to sacrifice in case of disaster like Ebola.