By Moses M. Tokpah
Margibi (freelance)
The former County Health Officer (CHO) of the Margibi County Health Team (MCHT), Augustine Fannieh, has vowed not to accept reassignment in Margibi County.
The indictment of Dr. Fannieh and other members of the Margibi County Health Team was triggered by a 2023 publication by FrontPage Africa in which they were accused of corruption involving approximately US$188,978.86 in funds from a USAID healthcare project.
An FPA reporter reportedly obtained a leaked audio recording which implicated the former County Health Officers discussing the misappropriation of public funds in conspiracy with vendors.
The revelations led to an investigation by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) thereby resulting in the February 2024 indictment of 12 individuals by the Grand Jury of Margibi County.
Charges included Economic Sabotage, Theft of Property, Tampering with Public Records, Criminal Facilitation, and Criminal Conspiracy, although five defendants were dropped from the case. The prosecution later requested a change of venue, and the trial was subsequently moved to Bong County.
The case then ended when jury rendered a “not guilty” verdict, acquitting the defendants of charges related to the mismanagement of donor funds.
Following the jury’s verdict, Judge George S. Wiles of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court in Bong County fully acquitted the defendants and restored their legal and civil rights.
The defendants acquitted include Dr. Fannieh, Leroy Dorwazia, Roland Reeves, Odoshall Oldpa Karnue, Barkolleh Kollie, and Momo K. Miller.
Dr. Fannieh, one of the acquitters who returned to Margibi over the weekend following the legal battle, told the Inquirer Newspaper that he is willing to return to the health sector, but not in Margibi.
“No, Margibi is off the show and I am not going to come back to Margibi” Dr. Fannieh emphasized.
Dr. Fannieh further revealed that his decision to not go back to the county is based on what he called financial losses and the damages the accusation caused on his characters among many others.
The Liberian Medical Doctor stated that people know him for standing for the truth and in the line of advocacy for health workers in making thing better in the health sector.
Dr. Fannieh averred that he has worked in the health system for some time now especially in many counties in southeastern Liberia where he served as a medical director then county health officer for Grand Kru and Grand Gedeh Counties implementing the same USAID FARAH projects.
The former CHO continued that he made those counties to stand up high all those years adding that his works were validated by USAID and the Ministry of Health (MOH).
“So, coming to Margibi, my mind was positive to make Margibi better so seeing that kind of publication actually broke me down and it went on for almost two years” he explained.
Dr. Fannieh stated that the publication that led to their indictment was a syndicate cascaded against his character by some individuals in the county who went against him for his stance on issues at the time thereby using the FrontPage Africa’s reporter to accomplish their aim.
He revealed that during his assignment in Margibi, he met a lot of things going on and standing against those things brought about mix feelings and disagreements and as the result of that people decided to go against him.
In a related development, the former CHO maintained that two weeks after he took over as CHO, the C.H. Rennie Hospital got burnt and it was linked to electrical shock, but he insisted that it be investigated to establish the real cause of the fire outbreak because in his words the fire he saw was not like a fire caused by electrical shock.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fannieh has glorified the Almighty God for vindicating him from what he referred to as a nightmare that broke him down and had a psychological effect on his life noting, ‘it was very traumatic.’
He expressed excitement that they went through a court of competent jurisdiction with a non-guilty verdict indicating that they have been given certificate by the court and that their rights and privileges will now be restored after two years.
