Sierra Leone to prosecute fraudulent Ebola "ghostworkers"

REUTERS  by Emma Farge                                                                                          Feb. 10, 2015

DAKAR --Sierra Leone said on Tuesday it had cleaned up a list thought to contain thousands of "ghostworkers" on its Ebola staff and would prosecute those who sought to swindle money from the government, tackling a problem that has dogged its fight against the epidemic.

More than 10,000 Ebola cases have been reported in Sierra Leone since last May, making it the hardest hit country in the world's worst outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever. The epidemic has been concentrated in West Africa and killed nearly 9,000 people out of 22,495 known cases since December 2013.

In Sierra Leone, payments to Ebola staff have repeatedly been frozen because of the difficulty distinguishing between genuine workers -- such as ambulance drivers and grave diggers -- and those forging their identities to claim hazard bonuses or registering twice to claim double pay.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/10/us-health-ebola-fraud-idUSKBN0LE2M920150210