The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) remains committed to engaging public sector institutions in a constructive discourse to address systems weaknesses. In this regard, the ACC north-east region office has on Thursday September 17, 2020, enlightened local court authorities and chiefdom administrative staff on how corruption safeguards could be integrated into their daily operations.
Speaking to local court authorities and chiefdom administrative staff in the conference room of the Tonkolili District Office in Magburaka, ACC’s Public Education Officer, Abdulai Saccoh underscored the significance of the meeting and described it as a frank discussion intended to tackle injustice and instill integrity and ethical conduct in local court administration.
The Public Education Officer reminded the local court authorities and chiefdom administrative staff that injustice is one of the causes of Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, as expressed in the Truth and Reconciliation Report.
Mr. Saccoh said, though tremendous efforts have been made to improve the justice sector, some rogues continue to debar the dispensation of justice. He reflected on some of the practices that inhibit justice and the operations of chiefdom administration, such as soliciting money for bail, misuse of court fines, exorbitant court fines, delay in passing judgment, improper handling of local tax revenue, greed, disrespect for the rule of law, lack of integrity, misuse of chiefdom land lease revenue, among others.
The Public Education Officer furthered that, issuing of receipts for court fines, proper records keeping, monitoring of Government projects, adherence to the due process of the law, upholding transparency, accountability, integrity and best practices, are some of the values that the local courts should imbibe to build their systems.
ACC’s Public Education Officer Jeneba Kemoh re-echoed the Commission’s desire to join forces with all facets of society to fight the scourge of corruption. She told the local court authorities and chiefdom administrative staff that the Commission deemed it necessary to interact with them to convey anti-corruption messages due to the invaluable services they render to the nation.
Madam Kemoh also said the role of every individual in the fight against corruption is to ensure that they resist, reject and report incidences of corruption to the Commission; and therefore reassured them of confidentiality in the handling of any reports made to the Commission.
Earlier, in his welcome statement, Assistant District Officer, Tonkolili District, Alhaji A, Kamara, expressed delight at having the ACC in their midst to remind them of the provisions of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as Amended in 2019, and also to guide them on how transparency and accountability could be enhanced in their workplace. He pledged on behalf of his colleagues to heed to the ACC messages and introduce more reforms that will enhance effective service delivery.
By Sallieu S. Kanu
25/09/2020. ISSUE NO: 7917