MONROVIA – Family sources have confirmed to Punch FM/TV’s Online Service that the deputy minister for operations at the Ministry of National Defense, Ernest Momo Vafee has died.
Mr. Vafee died during the early morning hours of Saturday, 19 January 2019, at the St. Joseph Catholic Hospital, located in the Monrovia suburban of Sinkor, according to family sources.
The deceased, according to our sources, was diabetic, with the sources stating that by 3 AM on Saturday, his blood sugar level went high, thereby prompting his relatives to have rushed him to the Catholic Hospital for medical attention.
At Catholic Hospital, doctors there were said to have fought frantically to stabilize Vafee’s health condition, even applying oxygen therapy on him but to no avail.
Following doctors’ advice to place him under oxygen support for a while, Vafee requested that the oxygen be removed, informing the medical staff at Catholic Hospital that he could now breathe normally, one family source mournfully told Punch FM/TV’s Online Service.
Our informant narrated that minutes after the oxygen was removed, it was when the fallen deputy minister of defense gave up the ghost.
Prior to his appointment and confirmation as Deputy Minister for Operations at the Ministry of National Defense, Vafee served the same ministry in the capacity of Policy Analyst.
Vafee was an experienced Liberian with a proven track record in the development and analysis of social, economic, political and security policy, well-schooled in project proposal writing, project management, monitoring and evaluation.
He held a masters’ degree in International Development Policy from the Duke University, North Carolina, USA; a post-graduate diploma in Budget and Public Financial Management from the same university; as well as another post-graduate diploma in technical report writing and presentation skills, from the West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Lagos, Nigeria; and a BSc in Economics, from the University of Liberia.
He had an extensive private sector service record dating back to 2002, when he served as Coordinator for the Peace and Civil Education Desk, Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), Liberia; Executive Director/Co-Founder, Youth Crime Watch Of Liberia, from 2004-2006; Speaker, Mano River Union Youth Parliament, from 2006-2012.
Vafee also worked as Director of Research and Policy, in the office of the Vice President of Liberia, from 2006-2008; and as Technical Assistant/ Macro-Fiscal Analyst, at the Ministry of Finance, from 2008-2012.
