On October 9, 2003, the General Assembly of the United Nations designated December 9, as the International Anti-Corruption Day. It is a day that was set aside to raise awareness of corruption, picturing the role of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in combating and preventing it.
The International Anti-Corruption Day is primarily meant to incisively look at the serious problems, as well as the unremitting threats corruption poses to all spheres of society.
Corruption remains to be a major impediment that has been stifling the growth of many nations, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has affected all fabrics of society.
Corruption undermines a country’s security and stability, and fuels chaos and rebellion. It erodes ethical values of society, and gravely impedes democratic principles, justice and the rule of law. It generally jeopardizes the attainment of sustainable development which is a global milestone.
Sierra Leone, like many other African countries muzzled by corruption, had experienced a decade-long civil war, which, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report, had corruption as a major cause.
As a result, lending utmost credence in soliciting the collective support of all and sundry, to sanitize society by minimizing corruption to the barest minimum cannot in anyway be overemphasized.
This is the very reason why the Anti-Corruption Commission was established following the passage, in Parliament, of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2000.
Sierra Leone is a country that is abundantly blessed with both human and mineral resources, but still challenged in so many aspects. This is largely due to the reckless mismanagement of State resources over the years. The sad part of it is that the perpetrators of most of those cases had gone unpunished.
However, a new life has been injected into the fight against corruption since the assumption into office of the current Commissioner of the ACC, Francis Ben Kaifala Esq. Within a very short period; he has garnered unimaginable successes at the Commission, which is the lead institution in the anti-corruption campaign.
The statistics, since Mr. Kaifala took up office in the middle of 2018, are a joy to watch: from the country’s failing 49 percent score in the MCC Scorecard in 2017 to remarkable scores of 71, 79 and 81 percents in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. The Transparency International and Afro-Barometre Corruption Indexes have also rated Sierra Leone impressively. The massive recoveries of stolen public funds and the very high conviction rate secured by the ACC for cases charged to court, all provide the appetizing things we all want to see.
As Sierra Leone joins other nations to observe the International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, to raise awareness about the ills of corruption and stimulate the consciousness of citizens to imbibe the values of integrity, I also join them in making this rallying call. Let us see this fight as a fight for us all.
Let us all see this Day as a period to reflect on how corruption has affected us as a Nation, and what all of us can do to eradicate the scourge. Let us also see this Day as a period to instill hope in Sierra Leoneans, to understand that the fight, no matter how difficult it appears, it is sure winnable.
By Alex A. Bah
9/12/2020. ISSUE NO: 7964