PHOTO: Pathologists and their team at the St. Moses Funeral Parlours on Monday
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
The start of Liberian government-commissioned autopsies on four LRA and IAA officials, who mysteriously died in just eight days in Monrovia, has failed to reduce the controversies, with two of the families boycotting the exercise.
Three of the dead are said to be Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE), but the Liberian government has said they are not Auditors but professionals working in government. Initially, Police inspector General, Patrick Sudue admitted that the first crime scene was contaminated.
Two Liberian Pathologists began the autopsy process at the St. Moses Funeral Parlours on the four corpses. The operation began on the first two LRA employees found dead in a vehicle on Snapper Hill, Broad Street in central Monrovia- Deputy Commissioner for Audit, Albert Peters and Gifty Lamah, a research analyst at the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA).
But family members boycotted the procedure carried out by the Pathologist, after being invited by the Liberian Ministry of Justice.
The two Liberian Pathologists are Dr. Benedict B. Kolee an employee of the Ministry of Health and Dr. Zoebon B. Kparteh an employee of John F. Kennedy memorial hospital.
Briefing the press and other civil groups present, Dr. Kolee said autopsy is mostly done to discover the scientific cause of death.
‘Every step of the autopsy today October 19,2020, were being explained by the two pathologists and everyone who attended the autopsy was allowed to asked questions if they don’t understand anything during the conduct of the autopsy,’ the Liberian Pathologist said.
Dr. Kolee further told the gathering that the Pathologist carrying out the procedure don’t have special interest in government, neither the families nor the victims.
He said all of the autopsies they had conducted in Liberia have been a poor Bono service.
During a conduct of an autopsy, normally many people are allowed to be there but due to the public perception, many people including journalists were allowed within the room where the autopsy were being conducted, Dr. Kolee narrated.
By law only Coroner and police should be allowed in the autopsy room but due to the nature of cases of the four mysterious deaths, they have opened it to the public.
The autopsy were attended by Police spokesman Moses Carter, Ministry of Justice Public Relation Officer, Madam Bernice Freeman from Women in Peace Network (WIPNET) and Journalists among others.
Meanwhile, the two other autopsies on the remains of George Fahnboto, who allegedly died in accident along the Boulevard 722nd Road on October 4, 2020 and Emmanuel B. Nyenswa, former head of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) are slated for this Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
The autopsies on Albert Peters and Mrs. Gifty Lamah lasted for over four hours at the St. Moses Funeral Parlours in the Gardersville suburb of Monrovia.
On October 2, 2020, the lifeless bodies of Albert and Gifty from the LRA were discovered in Mr. Peters’ vehicle on Broad Street, Snapper Hill.
Another LRA Auditor, George Fahnboto was believed to have died in a questional tragic motor accident. And on October 10, 2020, Internal Audit Agency boss Emmanuel B. Nyenswa’s lifeless body was also discovered on the ground of his one story building residence, with one account saying that he had fallen from the balcony.