Two years ago today, Feregeh Jalloh was trapped in an opening underneath two rocks, buried up to his shoulders in mud, with a pole impaled through his stomach, sides, and back. When he was found by search parties three days later, he was presumed dead. He awoke at the mortuary at Connaught Hospital, and later learned that he was the only one out of the eleven members of his household to survive the disastrous landslide at Mortomeh. In the recovery effort, the Government of Sierra Leone promised victims like Jalloh assistance, but a chaotic administration process left some without their rightful compensation. Jalloh said that someone else claimed his money on his behalf, and others in Mortomeh Community either never received assistance or did not receive the full promised amount, according to Chief Pa Alimamy Bubu Conteh.
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“Some were lucky to receive their 5 million Leones, some were not so lucky,” said Conteh. “Those that received 5 million Leones did not go back, those who did not receive as much went back to their own dwellings.” Sinneh Mansaray, Assistant Deputy Director of the Department of Disaster Management as the Office of National Security (ONS) said that ONS hears from victims every day who claim to have similar problems, and acknowledged that many people did not receive the money that they should have. ONS did not directly deal with cash transfers, but a complicated disbursement procedure provided avenues for chaos to seep into the relief process. National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) was primarily responsible for disbursing payments, but the money intended for victims passed through multiple organizations first. NaCSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For example, aid was provided by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), but the funds first passed through UNICEF, and then UNICEF contracted Orange Money to disburse it to victims. This required providing many mobile phones, and some recipients had never operated Orange Money. “We learned that cell phone companies should not be given that responsibility,” said Mansaray. “There are many people who did not receive their package.” Disbursement issues were exacerbated by changing figures about how many people were affected. According to the World Bank 1,141 people died, but Mortomeh community members believe the numbers to be much higher. According to Mansaray, shifting numbers created issues for disbursement plans. “When you have crisis in this country, figures keep changing,” he said. “But partners plan based on those reports.” Holes in compensation administration and a lack of accountability allowed the system to be taken advantage of, instead of allowing it to serve those it’s intended to help. Jalloh now lives in Mbamba Yillah community, the site of another small landslide on 2nd August. Due to rubber placed in his stomach to treat his impalements from the 14 August 2017 landslide, he is unable to eat solid food or do hard labor, and still is awaiting a response from the government. “I went to get something and I got nothing,” he said. “Until now I got nothing, and I have gone to ONS but up until now no one has responded.”
By Emma Scher
Wednesday August 14, 2019.
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