Published: May 12, 2025
GANTA – When Benjamin Dokpah rushed his wife to the E&J Medical Center in Ganta on October 12, 2017, he never imagined that seven years later, he would still be spending hundreds of dollars every month just to keep her alive. What was supposed to be a routine fibroid surgery, conducted by the hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Peter Matthew George, ended with his wife bleeding uncontrollably for years — a condition untreated and possibly worsened by a man who, Liberia’s top medical regulator now says, was never qualified to hold a scalpel.
Last week, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) revoked Dr. George’s license after discovering that he used fraudulent credentials to practice medicine in the country. The ruling follows a sweeping audit by the Council’s Credentials Committee, which found no verifiable academic or professional records to justify Dr. George’s standing in Liberia’s health sector.
“The documents he presented were either falsified or completely unverifiable,” said a senior official at the LMDC who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He should never have been allowed to treat patients, let alone lead surgeries.”
Victims Speak Out
The news has reignited painful memories for many who once trusted Dr. George with their lives—or the lives of their loved ones.
Among them is Dokpah, the former Mayor of Ganta City, now living in the United States. In a social media message to The Liberian Investigator, Dokpah recounted how Dr. George demanded $42,000 Liberian dollars for his wife’s fibroid surgery. Following the procedure, his wife began experiencing uncontrollable bleeding that persists to this day.
“I called his attention, but he never showed up at either E&J or JFK hospitals,” Dokpah said. “It was only later another doctor prescribed medicine costing me US$80 per pack, which I’ve had to buy every two weeks for years. In the U.S., it’s cheaper—US$30—but I still have to send them regularly.”
Another grieving family member, businessman Adonis Menlor, holds Dr. George responsible for the death of his pregnant wife, Abigail Mahnmie Menlor, in 2020. According to Menlor, Abigail underwent a cesarean procedure at E&J Medical Center on September 3, 2020, and died weeks later.
“She told me the doctor threatened her, said something like, ‘Now that you’re here, you’ll see,’” Menlor said in a tearful interview. “When I tried to move her to another hospital because her condition was worsening, I was told Dr. George had left. No one else would authorize the transfer.”
Menlor said he eventually took his wife to the Ganta United Methodist Hospital, where doctors suggested “foul play” had taken place. She died on November 27, 2020.
The trauma didn’t end there. Menlor claims he has since been accused by members of his wife’s family and the public of using her for a money ritual.
“Now to hear that Dr. George was not even a legitimate doctor? It’s devastating,” Menlor said. “This country let a fake doctor cut open our people for years—and we paid him through our taxes.”
Meteoric Rise, Fatal Consequences
Dr. George’s rise through Liberia’s medical establishment was as fast as it was, apparently, fraudulent. He once served as Chief Medical Officer at the privately owned Esther and Jereline Medical Center—reportedly affiliated with current Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung—before being transferred in 2020 to serve as County Health Officer of Gbarpolu County.
He also worked at JFK Hospital during the 2014 Ebola crisis and previously practiced in Maryland County.
The LMDC says it first requested Dr. George’s credentials on March 18, 2025, after internal audits revealed that License #654, issued to him, lacked any academic backing.
After failing to present verifiable credentials, the Council moved in April 2025 to revoke his license permanently. Practicing medicine in Liberia without a license is a criminal offense and could expose Dr. George to legal action.
A Systemic Failure?
The scandal has ignited calls for broader accountability within Liberia’s health sector. Critics are questioning how a man without valid qualifications could climb so high and stay there for so long.
“This is bigger than Dr. George,” said a Monrovia-based healthcare advocate. “It’s about the systemic failure that let him operate for years, possibly taking lives in the process.”
For families like the Menlors and Dokpahs, apologies or administrative reshuffles won’t erase the pain. They want justice—and assurances that no other Liberian will suffer at the hands of a doctor who should never have been one in the first place.
“If the government let this happen, then the government has to answer,” Menlor said. “This isn’t just a scandal—it’s a national disgrace.”
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