Claim: A Facebook page, Salone Political Watch, claimed that former President Ernest Bai Koroma brought Ebola to Sierra Leone and that the disease specifically affected Mende people, while no Temne people died because, according to the post, they were “his people.”
Verdict: False! There is no evidence that former President Ernest Bai Koroma introduced Ebola into Sierra Leone. Official reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that Ebola entered Sierra Leone from neighbouring Guinea through cross-border transmission. There is also no evidence that the virus selectively infected or killed people based on ethnicity. The disease affected Sierra Leoneans across districts, communities, and ethnic groups.
Full Text
A post circulated by the Facebook page (archived here), Salone Political Watch, written in Krio, alleged that former President Ernest Bai Koroma was responsible for bringing Ebola into Sierra Leone. The post further claimed that the virus disproportionately affected Mende people while sparing Temne people, due to alleged ethnic favouritism.
Translated into English, the post reads:
“Ernest Bai Koroma brought Ebola to Sierra Leone. Mende people suffered because Ebola killed them, while no Temne person died because they were his people.”
The claim carries ethnic and political implications and attempts to link a national health emergency to ethnic discrimination. DUBAWA therefore verified the claim using official records and public health reports.
Verification
DUBAWA reviewed official outbreak documentation from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
WHO reports indicate that the outbreak originated in Guinea before spreading to neighbouring countries, including Sierra Leone and Liberia. WHO further notes that Sierra Leone’s first cases were linked to cross-border transmission from Guinea, rather than deliberate introduction by any political leader.
WHO explained that Sierra Leone’s outbreak “began slowly and silently” after transmission linked to cases originating from Guinea.
Further, WHO data and epidemiological records show that Ebola spread geographically through districts such as Kailahun, Kenema, Freetown, Port Loko, and other parts of Sierra Leone. Specifically, there was a report from the National Institute of Health on the outbreak in the Tonkolili district in the North of the country. Ultimately, this contributed to the National Ebola Recovery Strategy for Sierra Leone published by the United Nations and the then-sitting government. This shows that transmission was driven by human contact patterns and public health factors, rather than by ethnicity or tribal identity.
DUBAWA found no official reports from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or international health agencies stating that Ebola targeted Mende people or exempted Temne people.
Available reports instead indicate that Ebola infected and killed people across Sierra Leone regardless of ethnic identity, including health workers, community members, religious leaders, and families from various regions and backgrounds. WHO records show thousands of deaths nationwide, with no classification of the outbreak along ethnic or tribal lines.
The claim also ignores the scientific explanation for Ebola transmission. Research and outbreak reports identify Ebola as a viral disease spread through contact with infected body fluids, not through ethnic affiliation or political influence.
Conclusion
DUBAWA found the claim to be false. There is no evidence that former President Ernest Bai Koroma brought Ebola into Sierra Leone. Official WHO records show that the disease spread from Guinea into Sierra Leone during the West African Ebola outbreak.
DUBAWA also found no evidence supporting the allegation that Ebola selectively killed Mende people while sparing Temne people. Ebola affected Sierra Leoneans across ethnic and regional lines and spread according to public health and epidemiological factors, not tribal identity.