Dukuly stresses traditional leaders role in Ebola fight

Internal Affairs Minister Morris Dukuly has underscored the important roles chiefs have to play in the fight against Ebola. Minister Dukuly said during this time of Ebola, chiefs need to mobilize their little resources and use their powers to fight the disease in their respective areas. The Internal Affairs Minister wants people to follow the simple rules against the Ebola virus.

Minister Dukuly who was speaking during the opening of a four day Ebola consultative forum organized by the National Council of Chiefs and Elders and the MIA admonished the chiefs and elders attending the forum to put themselves in a position of respect in their communities.

He told the gathering on Wednesday that the government and its partners are making frantic efforts to ensure the virus is taken out of Liberia. He disclosed that it will cost the government about thirty million US Dollars to augment  the salaries of health workers for six months during this Ebola outbreak. The Internal Affairs Minister commended President Barrack Obama for paving the way for other members of the international community to intervene in the Liberian situation.

He stated that due to the role of the US many other countries and organizations have started pulling in with assistance for the country. He added that the presence of the 3000 US troops in the country speaks for itself.

The Co-chairman of the National Taskforce on Ebola told traditional leaders to stop Poro and Sande activities during this time of Ebola. He maintained that his ministry will ensure permits are provided to bush schools before they operate.

Mr. Dukuly said it has been observed that people are using the Poro and Sande societies as businesses by opening them when others are already nearby. He said there is no way he can stop these traditional practices, but his ministry wants to ensure they are modernized.

More than one hundred chiefs and elders from the fifteen political subdivisions of Liberia are currently attending the four days Ebola Consultative forum that is being supported by the Carter Center.