Monrovia – As Mabutu Nyepan fights for his life, many took to social media in the aftermath of a massive stroke suffered last Thursday, to declare him dead.
Mr. T. Ojuku Nyenpan, the minister’s brother, in a bid to calm the misinformation on Facebook said: “For the sake of family and friends, I must do this: Minister Nyenpan is alive. The breaking news on social media is false.”
Mr. Nathaniel McGill, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, posted:
“I have been following very closely, and with prayerful attention, the development of the Public Works Minister’s health condition. I take comfort from the fact that he is getting the best possible medical care and attention available at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia. I convey on behalf of the Government and people of Liberia, our most fervent prayers and best wishes for Minister Nyenpan speedy recovery.”
Mr. Mulbah Morlu, Chair of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change said: “We are in touch with medical authorities, and just left JFK where Min. Mobutu Nyenpan is very much alive and has improved.”
Doctors at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center performed multiple procedures and surgery to reduce blood in the minister’s brain. After managing to drain the blood to a safe level and stabilize him, FrontPageAfrica has learned that President George Manneh Weah, who was given an update of the minister’s condition, ordered his Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah to make US$150,000 available to fly the minister for further treatment.
Ironically, a similar amount was made available a few weeks ago to transport Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor to Ghana for treatment after reportedly coming down with the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Multiple reports suggested Saturday that plans were underway to fly the minster to Ghana or Dubai.
Contacted Saturday, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe said: “We are concluding arrangements to fly him to Abu Dhabi for advanced treatment. Doctors are trying to stabilize him first.”
The minister, who reportedly suffers from high-blood pressure condition, had earlier sought treatment at the Fidelity Clinic on 20th Street, adjacent to JFK but doctors there soon realize that his condition was much worse than they could handle. As a result, doctors at Fidelity rushed him to JFK, where doctors immediately took him into surgery.
Initially, FrontPageAfrica gathered from medical and family sources that the minister went into a coma. Nearly 24 hours later, he showed some signs of movement but could not recognize anyone, although he was able to make slight gestures, which doctors say, is a sign of progress.
By Saturday, doctors reported some body movement although fluctuating. His right hands and leg which were not moving is showing slow improvement.
The slow recovery of the minister is surpassing expectations. Ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in about 50% of cases. Of those who survive, about 665 suffer some permanent neurological deficit. Approximately 15% of people with a ruptured aneurysm die before reaching the hospital.
Meeting at Public Works – Day of the stroke
In the aftermath of the minister falling off, speculations were rife regarding the circumstances that may have triggered the stroke.
One report suggested that during a meeting at the Ministry attended by Minister of State Nathaniel McGill, Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee, National Oil Company of Liberia CEO Saifuah Mai Gray and a host of others, the minister was informed that he would be dismissed in the coming days, although it is not clear why.
The report also pointed to issues of the road fund money the minister reportedly was adamant against being redirected for Rep. Thomas Fallah’s Montserrado County senatorial quest.
However, a senior government official speaking to FrontPageAfrica Sunday denied those reports and said that meeting held last Thursday, was actually the third in a series of meetings aimed at fine-tuning lingering issues relating to the Ganta to Tappita Road and the RIA road project.
Asked why all those people were included in the discussion, the source insisted that it was a routine meeting. “We wanted to make sure that we had things under control. The entire sector and several senior management officials at the MPW were present in that meeting.”
The source explained that there were some issues relating to the procurement process which had not met the World Bank approval which warranted urgent attention.
Said the source: “It was minister Mabutu, in fact who suggested the meeting and said it was necessary that we come up with a plan to address the unresolved issues the World Bank had raised relating to the Ganta-Tappita and the RIA road projects.”
The source said there had been some lingering issues between the MPW and the Public Procurement Concessions Commission(PPCC). It was an important discussion pertinent to not just which roads should be given priority, but there were issues raised by the PPCC which we all needed to give our inputs. “The PPCC director had concerns that MPW was not doing every the right way. We had met three times – with two of those meetings being held at the Ministry of Public Works. So, it was not an issue of discussing the minister being fired – or anything to do with the road fund project. “We were simply trying to solve some problem for public works and Minister Mabutu agreed that we have these meetings to sort things out,” said the source.
The meeting also, according to the senior official, was attended by directors, assistant ministers and the head of the PPCC. The MPW Minister, McGill and Tweah all left together after the meeting.
FrontPageAfrica has learned that a sticking point in the selection of the travel arrangement is the government’s quest to have the family involved in the best possible option for the minister to travel for further treatment.
This, a senior official acknowledged is due to the many speculations surrounding the minister’s fallout after last Thursday’s meeting.