By Edward Vamboi
Two attendants at the Connaught Teaching Hospital Mortuary in Freetown are on the run while two others, Abdul Conteh and Thomas Garber are in Police net following their alleged breaking into the office of the Administrative Assistant at the mortuary, spattering of faeces at some office equipment and the carting away of Le12, 750,000 (Twelve Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Leones).
According to the Administrative Assistant, Sinneh Kamara, four Mortuary Attendants last Friday 5th March, 2021 received official posting letters from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) for them to be transferred to other health facilities with immediate effect. They are Alhaji Kanjay, Abdul Conteh, Thomas Garber and Titus Riddle.
Sinneh Kamara said on Tuesday 9th March 2021, the Maintenance Manager at Connaught Teaching Hospital was to monitor the mortuary cold-room at 10:00p.m. to see whether it was in good working order after it had been repaired. He added that the Maintenance Manager came and monitored the cold-room in fifteen minutes and left.
The Administrative Assistant said he was still at the vicinity of the mortuary when he saw one of the posted staff, Alhaji Kanjay sneaking into the Connaught Hospital compound through the small gate towards Lightfoot Boston Street.
Sinneh Kamara said shortly after spotting Alhaji Kanjay sneaking into the hospital compound, he drove home since he had to return to work very early the next day. He said when he reported for work on Wednesday morning, he was shocked to discover that some unscrupulous persons had broken into his mortuary office through the ceiling, spattered his office equipment and some vital documents with faeces and carted away Le12, 750, 000.00 (Twelve Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Leones) that was kept in the first drawer of the office table.
Sinneh Kamara furthered that the unscrupulous persons damaged the ceiling of the mortuary parlour and passed through it to gain access to his office after damaging its ceiling as well and did nauseating things that are unthinkable, adding that even the main office chair that is often used by one of the two Nigerian Pathologists recently recruited by the President was spattered with faeces.
He lamented that the intruders also soiled the Video Display Terminal (VDT) of the Apple computer and some important documents with faeces, adding that they even left a note with threatening remarks which they pasted on the VDT with faeces, such as “Sinneh Kamara get ready for the war and to die. This is just the beginning of the war.”
Sinneh Kamara said the file copies of the official posting letters of the suspects were also not seen in the same drawer where the money was kept.
This medium gathered that on the day the four suspects received their official posting letters, Abdul Conteh and Alhaji Kanjay were so furious and frustrated that they openly started using invectives and making unprintable remarks against Sinneh Kamara, as well as using innuendoes in an uncouth manner. They even threatened to kill him this time around.
Also on Tuesday 9th March 2021, Sinneh Kamara said one of the posted staff, Thomas Garber led his family members to the mortuary to make an arrangement for a post-mortem. He said after interrogating the family members, he told them Thomas Garber was no longer working at the mortuary because he has been transferred to another health facility.
The Administrative Assistant said after he had told the family members that he was in charge of coordinating all post-mortems at the mortuary, Thomas Garber then openly challenged him that he was still a mortuary attendant and even refused to leave the facility. He said the mortuary attendant was so adamant that the Police attached to the mortuary had to caution him before he left the scene.
Sinneh Kamara furthered that when he reported the incident to the Hospital Management, the Hospital Secretary, Mustapha Yokie gave him the go-ahead to report the matter to the Police. He said he then reported the matter to the Police and two of the suspects, Abdul Conteh and Thomas Garber have now been arrested and are helping the Police with the investigation.
According to the Hospital Secretary, Mustapha Yokie, prior to the transfer of the four suspects, the Hospital Management had set up a disciplinary committee to look into certain anomalies at the mortuary, including siphoning of funds for burial services, insubordination and indiscipline. He said following their findings, the committee recommended to the MoHS the transfer of the four suspects.
Mr. Yokie stressed that the transfer of the four suspects was recommended by the disciplinary committee and not by the Administrative Assistant, noting that the Hospital Management is very much determined to maintain zero tolerance to indiscipline and other vices that have the propensity to undermine the Hospital Management.
In an interview with a female Mortuary Attendant, Beatrice Peterson, she told this medium that she saw one of the suspects, Abdul Conteh very early on Wednesday morning at the vicinity of the hospital even before Sinneh Kamara arrived at the mortuary and discovered what had happened to his office.
A car washer at the Connaught Hospital, Winston, intimated that he also saw one of the suspects, Thomas Garber on Wednesday at around 4:52a.m. at the hospital emerging from the dark with a torchlight, plastic bag in his hand and another bag on his back. Winston said when he interrogated him to know what he was doing in the hospital at that time of the morning, he told him to forget about what he had seen.
“So when I later heard about what had happened in the office of Sinneh Kamara at the mortuary, I did not hesitate to conclude that Thomas Garber must have a hand in it,” said Winston.
Meanwhile, the police have mounted a manhunt for both Titus Riddle and Alhaji Kanjay, who are believed to be in hiding in Freetown.
