MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia used its regular Thursday press briefing at the Ministry of Information to deliver a sharp rebuttal to social media claims that Redemption Hospital had refused medical attention to two patients who subsequently died, clarifying that both individuals were pronounced dead before arrival at the facility. Deputy Information Minister Daniel O. Sando, who addressed a wide range of governance, health, infrastructure, and security matters at the briefing, also warned citizens against spreading misinformation about an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, stressing that Liberia currently has no confirmed Ebola case but has fully reactivated its surveillance and preparedness systems in response. THE ANALYST reports.
The Ministry of Information convened its regular press briefing on Thursday in Monrovia against a backdrop of escalating public anxiety over reports that had spread rapidly across social media platforms in the preceding days — claims that Redemption Hospital, one of Liberia’s prominent public health facilities, had turned away emergency patients due to a lack of space, leading to their deaths outside the hospital’s entrance.
Deputy Information Minister Daniel O. Sando addressed the reports directly and with unusual specificity, reading an official statement from Redemption Hospital management that provided a clinical account of both incidents. According to the statement, the first patient — a female — was examined by an attending doctor upon arrival and confirmed dead before she reached the facility. A second patient brought to the hospital shortly afterward was similarly pronounced dead before arrival. Both cases, the hospital confirmed, were classified as Dead Before Arrival, a standard medical designation that distinguishes between patients who expire at or en route to a hospital and those who die following admission and the provision or denial of care.
Sando dismissed the social media narrative categorically. ‘According to the statement from the hospital, the two patients were pronounced Dead Before Arrival,’ the government clarified. ‘They did not die because the hospital failed to provide treatment. That information is not true.’ The hospital management further disclosed that the incident had attracted a large crowd at the facility’s entrance, creating a tense and disruptive atmosphere for healthcare workers, security officers, and mortuary staff who were attempting to manage the situation professionally. Despite the pressure, hospital authorities maintained that personnel remained on duty and conducted themselves responsibly throughout.
Redemption Hospital, in its statement, reaffirmed its commitment to providing compassionate and quality healthcare to the Liberian people, while urging the public to rely on verified information rather than the unverified accounts circulating on social media platforms — a call that reflects the government’s growing concern about the capacity of misinformation to generate public panic and undermine trust in health institutions.
On the Ebola question, Sando confirmed that the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia had recently appeared before the Legislature to present a detailed account of Liberia’s preparedness measures in light of the ongoing Ebola situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The government stressed, emphatically, that Liberia currently has no confirmed Ebola case within its borders. However, officials warned citizens against the spread of false alarms and urged the public to report suspected cases through the national emergency line 4455.
Sando clarified that the placement of travellers under public health surveillance does not indicate infection, but rather constitutes precautionary monitoring — a critical distinction the government has found it necessary to make publicly, given the fear that surveillance activity itself can generate.
‘We learned painful lessons from the Ebola crisis,’ Sando said. ‘The surveillance mechanisms, preparedness systems, and rapid response structures have all been reactivated.’
The briefing also brought a significant infrastructure announcement. Liberia has secured an additional commitment of approximately US$15 million from the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development to support the continuation of the Salayea-Konia road project — a development that Sando framed within the administration’s broader agenda of improving road connectivity and stimulating economic activity in northern Liberia.
The Deputy Minister defended President Boakai’s recent groundbreaking ceremony for road works in Lofa County, noting that the project had remained stalled for years despite groundbreaking ceremonies conducted by previous administrations. Ongoing construction, he said, is expected to improve trade, transportation, and agricultural productivity across Lofa County’s breadbasket region.
Further governance developments disclosed at the briefing included confirmation that President Boakai had convened the 20th Cabinet Meeting since 2024 as part of the administration’s effort to strengthen accountability and monitor performance targets through the government’s Performance Management and Compliance System.
Cabinet deliberations, Sando noted, focused significantly on decentralisation and the strengthening of local governance systems, following the structural transition from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Local Government.
On the economy and investment front, a new Memorandum of Understanding was announced between the government and the Billion West Asia North Africa Investment Company Limited, under which the company reportedly plans to invest between US$500 million and US$3 billion over five years across infrastructure, energy, agriculture, transport, and natural resource development — a commitment, if realised, that would represent one of the most substantial foreign investment pledges in recent Liberian history.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy’s nationwide mining compliance tour was also highlighted, with government warning against violence or resistance during inspection exercises and urging mining operators to cooperate with authorities. And in a notable security dimension to the briefing, Sando announced that the Inspector General of the Liberia National Police is currently in Rwanda participating in activities marking the 25th anniversary of the Rwanda National Police, including the graduation of twenty Liberian police officers from a specialised tactical training programme — part of an ongoing security cooperation partnership that the government described as critical to building professional policing, intelligence sharing, and regional security collaboration across the continent.