"We Know Who is Eating the Ebola Money!": Corruption, the State, and the Ebola Response

Sierra Leonean production of knowledge about Ebola was, in large part, production of knowledge about "who ate the Ebola money" This article traces people's responses to the Ebola crisis through a number of different moments, at each point reflecting on how their concerns about how Ebola money was being spent illuminate their expectations of their state. During the Ebola outbreak, Sierra Leoneans simultaneously mistrusted their politicians and looked to their politicians in a moment of crisis. The article also investigates Sierra Leone's relationship to the international community, concluding that the state's weakness is produced, in part, by its place in the international system. The research is based on three field visits to Sierra Leone and Liberia in April 2014, July 2014, and January 2015 and draws on interviews and focus groups in urban and rural settings.