MONROVIA – In the buildup to Liberia’s Presidential and Legislative elections, politicians and their supporters are employing different strategies to sway voters. One of such person is Martin K.N Kollie – a former student leader and now Chair on Research and Rapid Respond of the Unity Party campaign team.
Rita Jlogbe Doue, Contributor
Unity Party is the former ruling party that is seeking to unseat incumbent President George Weah in the poll scheduled for October 10, 2023.
On August 16, 2023, Martin made a Facebook post profiling Senator Jeremiah K. Koung. His post generated about 1,600 reactions, 760 comments and 128 shares.
Jeremiah Koung is one of two senators of Nimba County who is also the running mate to the presidential candidate of the Unity Party, Joseph Boakai.
Martin, while highlighting Koung’s “history” in Liberia’s health sector, claimed that the Unity Party vice standard bearer built a 116-bedroom hospital in 2012.
He wrote: “Ester and Jereline Medical Center was dedicated in 2012 and turned over to the Government of Liberia in 2012 after Jeremiah Koung successfully ran it for 2 years at his own expense”.
Martin did not reply to any of our inquiries to make clarification about the claims he made.
We also checked the website of the Ministry of Health but did not see any information on Ester and Jereline Medical Center or any other government hospital in Liberia under the service center on the ministry website.
Claim #1: Was the Hospital Built in 2012?
Verdict: Incorrect
He also claimed that the hospital was built in 2012. But Andrew Dolo the Administrator of the hospital also told our fact checker in a telephone interview that the hospital construction started in 2011 and was completed and dedicated in July 2016.
To further authenticate this, we conducted multiple Google search on the dedication of the Ester and Jereline Medical Center in Ganta Nimba County.
Our search shows that Hernia International, a UK based charity group which visited the hospital to conduct surgery, said in its mission report on its visit to the hospital Medical Center in 2017, that the facility opened in 2016.
New Dawn newspaper also published a news article on August 18, 2016 about the challenges at the facility. The article stated that the hospital, which was “constructed by Jeremaih Koung”, was dedicated by then “Vice President Joseph Boakai four days before the publication of the news article”.
We also found a January 31, 2017 news article from the Brush Chicken on services at the hospital. The article states in the ending paragraphs that construction works of the hospital ended in April 2016.
It also states that as of the time of publication of the news article the hospital has still been operated as private facility.
So, Martin’s claim that the hospital was built in 2012 is incorrect.
Claim #2: The hospital was turned over two years after construction inn 2012.
Verdict:
Martin claimed that the hospital was turnover to the Government 2012 after Jeremiah Koung ran it for two years.
But the Administrator of the hospital Mr. Andrew Dolo said the E&J Medical Center was turnover to the Government of Liberia in 2020 – four years after it was dedicated in 2016.
We also found a September 18, 2020 Sam TV news article and a video showing the turning over event of the hospital to the Government of Liberia.
In the live video recording, the then Administrator of the facility Mr. Victor W. Kpaiseh said the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the hospital’s administration to run the facility as a government facility for the next 10 years. The news article quoted the then Administrator as saying that the MOU is subject to renewal if the government deems it necessary.
Conclusion
Therefore, the claim by Martin KN Kollie that the E&J Medical Center was turned over to the Government in 2012 is incorrect. E&J Medical Center was turned over to the Government through an MOU in 2020 and not 2014 – two years after its dedication.
This report was written by Rita Jlogbe Doue, a Journalist from Liberia at FrontPageAfrica newspaper under the mentorship of Africa Facts network member Local Voices Liberia. Africa Facts is a network of fact-checkers across the continent supported by Africa Check, Africa’s first independent fact-checking organization.
