Explainer: What to Know About the Wrangling Between Nurse Hawa and Representative Chiewolo

 

By: Fatorma Dunor-TSM Fellow, Lofa

Claim: "Representative Augustine Chiewolo instructed the head of Lofa County Health Team, Dr. Moses Weidehgar, to not allow nurse Hawa to work at the Salayea Health Center.”

Full Text: On March 18, 2025, James Papy Kwabo-the CEO of Alternative Youth Radio (AYR)—posted an article on Facebook titled "A Call to Protect Professionalism and Human Rights in Lofa County."

Kwabo said that Lofa County District #5 lawmaker Augustine Chiewolo told the County Health Team's leader, Dr. Weidehgar, not to allow Hawa, a nurse, to work at the Salayea Health Center.

“On the instruction of Lofa County District #5 Representative, Augustine Chiewolo, the Head of the Lofa County Health Team, Dr. Moses Weidehgar, directed that Nurse Hawa should not be permitted to work at the Salayea Health Center.’’

Hawa Thomas is a 35-year-old graduate of the Esther Beacon School of Nursing and Midwifery (2014-2017). She worked with Faith Clinic in Salayea District for 9 years and on November 6, 2024, she received an assignment letter from the Lofa County Health Team to work as a volunteer registered nurse (RN) at Salayea Clinic.

Verification: We contacted all three parties involved: Hawa, the nurse, the Weidehgar County Health Officer (CHO), and Chiewolo. Hawa explained that she had worked with Faith Clinic, a private health facility belonging to District 5 representative Chiewolo for 9 years before getting an assignment at the Salayea Clinic. 

She stated that she quit in late 2024 due to unsolved concerns but was then approached by an official from Chiewolo's political group to return to the institution (Faith Clinic) and continue working despite her departure.

"I stated that since the Honorable had realized his error, I would return, which I did for January 2025, but I soon realized that my return request was not completed correctly and that the Honorable wanted me to write two letters, one as an apology and the other as a retrieval to my earlier resignation, but I stated that I was unwilling to write any letters," Hawa told this fact-checker.

Hawa continued, “So I quit, even though the institution owes me compensation for January 2025 and a percentage for December 2024; if I knew that was the condition, I couldn't have returned to Faith Clinic."

Hawa also told The Stage Media that while working as a volunteer at Salayea Clinic on Friday, March 14, 2025, Dr. Moses Weidehgar told her that she should not return to the facility and that if the officer in charge at Salayea Clinic allowed her to practice, the officer would be suspended.

“Dr. Weidehgar said I should never stop at the Salayea Clinic; I should go back at the Faith Clinic to continue practicing there… If the OIC refuses and allow me to practice at Salayea Clinic, she is going to be suspended, and he is going to ask the DHO to monitor me and make sure I sign in every day at Faith Clinic and work there diligently; if the DHO also refuse to monitor me to report to me, he is also be suspended“.

Hawa said she was insulted by Dr. Weidehgar when she tried asking him why the sudden decision.

We then contacted Samuel Jalonta, a staff member at the Salayea Clinic who was present during the conversation between Hawa and the CHO.

Samuel confirmed that Dr. Weidehgar asked Hawa to leave and return to the representative’s clinic.

When Weidehgar was contacted, he said that the priority for employment of volunteers at the government’s facility is based on long service as a volunteer. 

Weidehgar told this researcher that while he acknowledges the fact that he collaborates with the lawmaker Chiewolo, he does not work at the will and pleasure of any lawmaker but the Minister of Health, Republic of Liberia.

He disclosed that Hawa’s ineligibility to serve at Salayea Clinic is a result of ‘first come, first served,’ which means only those volunteers who have served for a very long time at government facilities can get employment. 

Weidehgar said he wanted to have resolved the matter administratively but for the fact that the information is now out to the public, he could not do anything other than ask Hawa to leave the government facility and return to Faith Clinic.

When contacted, Chiewolo confirmed that he initially asked the CHO to transfer Hawa to another health facility in the district instead of Salayea Clinic because her presence at the Salayea Clinic might likely undermine his facility due to the proximity of Salayea Clinic and Faith Clinic.

However, Chiewolo said that his request was ‘’discretional and that the CHO would decide to accept it or not, even though he would have used his office to take the matter to the Ministry of Health.

We also visited the Ministry of Health website and found ‘’Liberia National Health Policy 2022-2031 and discovered that chapter 4.4 of the policy talks health workforce. Giving a clear explanation of how the deployment of health workers is done. 

The policy states that “the MoH shall strengthen HR governance and establish robust recruitment, retention, and management systems, including a biometric system, and deployment and transfer guidelines. 

To improve recruitment and deployment processes, the MoH shall decentralize recruitment and deployment of health workers to CHT as outlined in the recruitment and onboarding policy and deployment and transfer guidelines.

The transfer of health workers shall be regulated and based on the availability of a position with a salary before a transfer is affected. Newly recruited health workers shall be deployed to rural and hard-to-reach places. HR information systems shall be strengthened to support HR planning, development, management, classification and reclassification, and supervision across the various ministries (civil service agency, MoH, and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning). 

Conclusion: Considering the health policy provided by the MOH, members of the legislature have nothing to do with the recruitment, deployment, and transfer of health workers. 

Therefore, Chiewolo's request to the CHO to transfer Hawa to another health facility in the district was an abuse of power; we therefore conclude that the decision to stop Hawa Thomas from practicing at Salayea Clinic was greatly influenced by the Lofa County District #5 Representative.