The Liberian government is cracking down on officials who showed “insensitivity” to a “national tragedy,” and a “disregard for authority by disappearing during the Ebola outbreak.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced the firing of 10 workers who were “out of the country without an excuse,” as the deadly fever swept through the West African county.
Over 2,000 people are reported dead from Ebola in Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, and beyond. Four Americans contracted the disease, two have been cured. An experimental Ebola drug is already being tested on healthy patients in Maryland and is expected to hit the market by the end of the year.
The 10 workers — two commissioners, two deputy minsters from the justice ministry, and six assistant ministers — were given a monthlong deadline to return or get fired, effectively immediately.
In addition, eight “junior officials” have “been warned to return to the country, and will not be paid until they do.”
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Photo: CBS News
