The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started strategic supervision and monitoring of several projects instituted to respond to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Sierra Leone. The commencement of the supervision exercise on Friday June 7, 2020 comes after a month after the Commission launched the Special Task Force on Transparency and Accountability in the utilization of COVID 19 Funds. It aims at ensuring that the targeted beneficiaries for the World Bank supported National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) direct cash transfer, are reached in a transparent and accountable manner.
In a talk show hosted on Kambui Agriculture Radio, 92.3 FM in Kenema on Monday, June 8, 2020, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the ACC, Augustine Foday Ngobie, warned the handlers of the cash transfer project to be very cautious, adding that anyone caught manipulating the system for selfish purposes would face the full penalty of the law as provided for under the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 (As Amended in 2019).
“Our mandate in this particular cash transfer provided by World Bank through NaCSA is to ensure that the specific categories of persons affected by the economic downturn due to Covid-19 in Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Port Loko are captured”, Deputy Commissioner Ngobie emphasized.
He further advised that the moneys transferred to the targeted beneficiaries were not in any way to be given to other persons in the form of bribes, but are meant to lessen the economic burden on business owners in the targeted regions of the country.
Mr. Ngobie also added that the cash transfers are not meant for any political party, local leaders or groups other than those targeted, who are in the informal sector so as to ensure that their businesses do not hit rock-bottom with the outbreak of the pandemic which has halted many viable commercial activities in the country.
Coordinator for Operations at the Anti-Corruption Commission Emmanuel Koivaya Amara Esq. while commenting on the penalties for abusing the cash transfer system reminded the people of Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Port Loko that President Bio’s administration signed an agreement with the World Bank in 2019 for a US$30 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA), to finance the Social Safety Net (SSN) Project which initially targeted 35,000 beneficiaries in all 16 districts in Sierra Leone.
Launched by President Julius Maada Bio in early 2020 in Kenema, Mr. Amara added that, many great and positive testimonies were told of the ACC’s involvement in the World Bank Project, something which he added, is a motivator for the Commission’s continued strategic role in the project. He furthered expressed abhorrence over manipulation of the exercise.
“Any person who has gone through registration, verification and subsequent cash transfer must not by any means give money to anyone, and that anybody caught soliciting such moneys from beneficiaries will be arrested and further investigated,” Mr. Amara emphasized.
He encouraged beneficiaries to report to the ACC as soon as possible, through officers attached to the payment systems, in the event if anybody attempts to solicit for a bribe from them.
In a similar engagement, the Deputy Commissioner of the ACC and team visited verification points in Bo and Kenema districts to supervise and monitor the registration, verification and payment exercises so as to get personal insight into the entire payment system.
The Team is expected in Makeni and Port Loko in the coming days.
The World Bank funded pro-poor project, implemented by NaCSA, targets the most vulnerable section of society provide them with direct cash to ease the devastating effects of poverty and economic harshness on their lives.
The Coronavirus pandemic and the consequent declaration of a state of emergency occasioned the need for funding for Emergency Cash Transfers (ECTs) to vulnerable persons and businesses within the Sierra Leonean population.
The scheme targets households with informal sector workers including those working in micro and small enterprises and low-paid workers in the service sector in the regional headquarters.
The Social Safety Net (SSN) is implemented by three partners; NaCSA, the parent implementing agency, Statistics Sierra Leone, which is charged with the responsibility to ensure that the targeted deserving beneficiaries are selected for payment; and the ACC which supervises and monitors the process to ensure accountability and transparency and also crucially provides an avenue for grievance redress.
By Sallieu Kanu
11/10/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7843