Capitol Hill, Monrovia – Representative Yekeh Kolubah has called for President George Weah to be tested for allegedly coming in contact with the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nathaniel Blama, who was tested positive for COVID-19 following his return from Europe.
But Presidential Press Secretary Solo Kelgbeh has refuted Rep. Kolubah’s claims, adding that the President has not come in contact with Mr. Blama since his return from Switzerland.
Mr. Blama, the suspended EPA boss, headed a government delegation to Switzerland to attend a Green Climate Fund (GCF) meeting.
He and the team returned to Liberia on Friday, March 13, 2020 and he was tested positive for the coronavirus three days later.
President Weah, in his address to the nation on Monday, said Blama breached health protocols set up at the Roberts International Airport (RIA), and an intensive tracing exercise was underway to identify and test all persons with whom he came into contact.
The President also announced that all other persons who travelled and by-passed the mandatory screening protocols are being made to report to the health authorities immediately and without any further delay, warning that any other person who attempts to by-pass screening at any post of entry will be arrested and taken into compulsory quarantine.
However, addressing a team of reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday, Rep, Yekeh Kolubah said President Weah was one of several Government officials who came in contact with the EPA Executive Director at a meeting held at the President’s Jamaica Resort in Paynesville.
“When he [Nathaniel Blama] came, he needed to brief the President. They had a meeting at Jamaica Resort. So, the President needs to be tested and if he is positive, he needs to be quarantined,” Rep. Kolubah insisted.
“We are talking about the Liberian people’s lives and not government officials anymore. So, there should be no pick and choose.”
But the Presidential Press Secretary said the information given by Rep. Kolubah is entirely untrue.
“When he [Nathaniel Blama] came, he needed to brief the President. They had a meeting at Jamaica Resort. So, the President needs to be tested and if he is positive, he needs to be quarantined.”
– Rep. Yekeh Kolubah, Montserrado County, District 10
“The President did not have any meeting and the President doesn’t intend to have meeting with Blama in the near future. So, if Representative Yekeh is looking for attention, let him talk something else. But I think, as a lawmaker, let him focus on how best we all can address the issue at hand than to be seeking attention,” Mr. Kelgbeh said.
FPA also contacted the Minister of Information, Lenn Eugene Nagbe to confirm whether there was a meeting attended by Mr. Blama or not, but he said “I don’t respond to nonsense.”
Rep. Kolubah has been seeking treatment in Ghana and returned to Liberia on Friday, March 13, 2020, the same date Mr. Blama arrived on SN Brussels.
There have been reports that Rep. Kolubah was on the same flight with the suspended EPA boss.
However, the Montserrado County’s District #10 Lawmaker said he came on Kenya Airways and obeyed all of the protocols set up at the Airport.