Claim: “Former President George Manneh Weah allocated US$ 4 million for the reconstruction of C.H. Rennie Hospital during the 2023 Budget Year.”
Source: Sekou Kalasco Damaro, former Presidential Aide to George M. Weah.
Verdict: Misleading! Former President George Manneh Weah did not allocate US$ 4 million to reconstruct C.H. Rennie Hospital during the 2023 fiscal year.
Full text: C.H. Rennie Hospital, the only government referral hospital in Kakata City, Margibi County, was gutted by fire early Sunday morning, August 15, 2021, leaving several patients undergoing treatment wounded.
After the incident in 2021, Weah paid a courtesy visit to the site and pledged his administration’s commitment to rebuilding the hospital.
Unfortunately, from 2021 to 2023, the promise was not fulfilled until the 2023 Presidential and General Elections, when the former Liberian leader revisited the damaged public health facility during a campaign rally and broke the ground for the construction of a multi-purpose 150-bedroom hospital without giving a monitory value of the project.
Damaro’s claim Around 30 minutes, 39 seconds stated that, ” The C.H. Rennie project didn’t start when the hospital burned. Senator Nuquay and other lawmakers are here. They know the effort that was put in by former President Weah to make sure that the hospital is reconstructed.
For anyone to come and misinform the public that President Weah broke ground for the hospital twice is a lie.
Former President Weah broke the ground for the hospital one time but people have been lying that Former President Weah broke the group two times for the reconstruction of the hospital.
After the election, the budget that the CDC government left, former President Weah allocated US$ 4 million for the C.H. Rennie Project but when the Unity Party won, we didn’t see anything,” Damaro alleged on a local radio station (Classic FM) in Kakata on April 6, 2024.
Verification: We contacted Damaro to verify the claim; he could not verify his claim about the US$ 4 million in question, nor did he provide a contrary view about our fact check, which unearthed that only US$ 440,000.00 was allocated during the 2023 fiscal year for the renovation of the public health facility.
However, Damaro claimed that during his tenure as Presidential Aide, he did all he could to keep Weah reminded about the state of the hospital while at the same time suggesting a possible way forward for its renovation.
Also, to verify this claim, The Stage Media (TSM) checked the allocation to the health sector of Liberia during the 2023 fiscal year.
The 2023 budget showed that US$440,000 was allocated but the outturn showed that no amount was spent.
Conclusion: After looking at the approved 2023 National Budget, TSM has been able to establish that the CDC government did not allot US$ 4 million; rather, the allotment for 2023 was US$ 440,000. Therefore, Damaro’s claim of US$ 4 million being allocated for C.H. Rennie Hospital Reconstruction is misleading.
Written by: Patrick G. Moryor, Grant Fellow
