MONROVIA, Liberia — Faith Sayeh blamed the Red Cross for the death of her husband and two children during the 2014 Ebola outbreak that claimed thousands of lives here.
“I lost my husband and two sons because there were no health workers to give them treatment,” the teary-eyed widow said.
“It pains me a lot that people were dying every day not because there was no money but because the money that was meant to hire more health workers went to individuals’ pockets.”
Ms. Sayeh was referring to the shocking report by International Red Cross auditors in November that $6 million was lost to fraud and corruption during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa from March 2014 to January 2016.The auditors discovered overpriced supplies, salaries for nonexistent aid workers and fake customs bills.
In Liberia, $2.7 million disappeared, according to the Red Cross.
“I blamed them for the death of my family,” Ms. Sayeh said.
“How can they steal money meant to save lives?”
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa killed more than 11,300 people and infected about 28,600 in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
In Liberia alone, more than 5,000 people died as the state nearly collapsed, slowing the response of health care workers and triggering shortages of medicine and equipment to deal with the crisis..."
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