Monrovia – Eyebrows are being raised over the vetting process that led to the recent appointment by President George Manneh Weah of the Chief Executive Officer for Medical Services at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center.
Five persons – Doctors Benedict Kolee, Cuallau Jabbeh-Howe, Billy Johnson, Emmanuel K. Ekyinabah and Sia Wata Camanor were recently vetted for the position. Dr. Kolee, according to the vetting score sheet obtained by FrontPageAfrica was rated the highest with 93.8%. Dr. Jabbeh-Howe finished second with 77.3 percent, Dr. Johnson, 73.3 percent, Dr. Ekyinabah, 68.5 and Dr. Camanor, 57.7 percent.
At the end of the process, the name of Dr. Camanor, rated the least of the five, was reportedly forwarded to President Weah for appointment.
The dust over the appointment had not yet settled when many unfamiliar with the process began expressing concerns that something sinister was amiss.
Now, a letter from the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah to the hospital board, obtained by FrontPageAfrica is shedding some light on the controversy taking social media by storm and why Dr. Camanor, not Dr. Kolee was recommended for the position.
In her communication to the Search Committee for a new Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Medical Services, the minister register a few concerns of her own regarding the selection process while expressing her disapproval of the Vetting Committee’s recommendation for the position.
As a result of those concerns, the minister proposed that a new vetting Committee be established to include respected partners outside of the Board such as the World Health Organization(WHO) and/or/Center for Disease Control(CDC) to ensure a transparent selection without conflict of interest that is consistent with the requirements enshrined in the advertisement for the CMO position.
The minister said her denunciation of the nominee was based on the fact that the candidate, Dr. Kolee did not meet the first requirement to qualify for shortlisting. “It is beyond my understanding how the candidate was shortlisted in the first place. Qualification for the Deputy CEO for Medical Services as advertised was “qualifications: Academic-Medical Doctor with post-graduate specialization; Experience-at least five years of clinical practice with experience serving as head of a referral hospital or as head of a medical faculty within a referral and teaching hospital”. This expressly means the nominee who has not yet obtained his specialization should not have been shortlisted in the first place. To put it simply, the nominee is still in school and didn’t meet the first requirement.”
Minister Jallah said there was an apparent conflict of interest during the selection process in that on the resume of the recommended candidate, Dr. Kolee presented Dr. Robert Kpoto and Dr. Mohammed Sheriff as references. “Dr. Louise Kpoto, a Board member and also member of the Vetting Committee happens to be the wife of Dr. Robert Kpoto. Further, Dr. Louise Kpoto elected not to participate in the vetting process, but without any reference to me, elected to send Dr. Mohammed Sheriff, the second reference as proxy to conduct the interview.”
Furthermore, the minister averred that candidate Kolee had indicated that he was “currently the CMO for Jackson F. Doe Hospital “even though he was still in training in Ghana at the time of application. “There is not evidence that he was at JFD Hospital during the interview. In view of the above, and the power and authority in me vested as Minister of Health and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Medical Center and pursuant to Section 39.3 of the Act creating the Ministry of Health, I herein renounce the Vetting Committee’s recommendation.”
In view of her findings and observation, the minister proposed constituting a new committee to re-vet the applicants in accordance with the requirement set in the advertisement.
Even amid the letter from Minister Jallah, many are still wondering how Dr. Camanor’s name was sent through considering she was the last on the list after the controversial vetting.
Questions are also being raised about President Weah’s own role in the process. Dr. Kolee’s wife Theodosius Juahgbe Kolee was recently appointed by the President as Commissioner for Decentralization at the National AIDS Commission. The Kolee’s are said to have some relationship although unexplained with the President.
It is unclear what the next step would be in the process, but Dr. Jallah’s communication to the committee means that Dr. Camanor’s appointment could be withdrawn as the process returns to square one in hopes of finding the next CMO of the country’s leading referral hospital.