The Eastern Regional office of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday January 27, 2021, held a well-attended customized sensitization meeting with residents and stakeholders of Largo Town, Nongowa Chiefdom, Kenema District.
The meeting, which took place at the Largo Town ‘Barray’, was part of the Commission’s strategy to sustain engagements with communities, and update them on the operations and gains of the Commission in the anti-corruption campaign.
The meeting provided an opportunity for the ACC to remind the people of Largo of their civic responsibilities to support the fight against corruption- by resisting, rejecting and reporting any act of corruption to the Commission.
Updating the audience on the achievements of the Commission over the past two and half years, Public Education Officer, Sam P. Gogra, spoke on the recovery of 26.8 Billion Leones through the non-conviction based assets recovery strategy, which does not include the fines imposed by courts or those recovered on behalf of revenue generating institutions of government. He also made reference to the hotel confiscated in Kono and the two government vehicles recovered and handed over to the Government.
Mr Gogra informed his audience about the establishment of the Special Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court with five dedicated judges, the strengthening of the anti-corruption law by amending the Anti-Corruption Act, 2008 in 2019, the remarkable gains in international and domestic ratings like the 81 % score in the Millennium Challenge Corporation Scorecard, and Sierra Leone’s ranking of 117 out of 180 in just-released Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, among others.
He said these monumental gains have made Sierra Leone an example in the fight against corruption to many within and without the continent of Africa.
He attributed the gains to the consistent presidential will manifested by His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio, the dynamic leadership being demonstrated by the current ACC Commissioner Francis Ben Keifala Esq. and the unswerving cooperation received from the public.
Mr. Gogra further cautioned his audience against the misappropriation of community resources and revenues generated from mining and other activities in their locality and suggested the formation of a more robust and functional committee that will ensure the judicious utilization of the Diamond Area Development Funds (DADFs).
He further warned contractors who are in the habit of poorly implementing community projects to be conscious of the long arm of the law. “The ACC does not condone any act of corruption and shall decisively treat any alleged act of corruption with the attention that it requires, no matter the person involved,” the ACC Public Education Officer warned.
He ended by admonishing the community people to use the ACC hotlines and website to promptly report all alleged instances of corruption to the ACC without fear or favour, adding that there is sufficient protection for whistle-blowers and informants under the law.
Town Chief of Largo, Bockarie Sonnie, expressed appreciation for the meeting and commended the leadership and staff of the ACC for the gains made in addressing public sector corruption and pledged his community’s support for the campaign.
Chief Abraham B. Sellu of Largo Town highlighted some of the concerns of the community in their daily interactions with the police, health centres and schools, alleging that a lot of extortion takes place while accessing such services.
ACC’s Public Education Officer Jeneba Kemoh, while addressing some of the concerns of Chief Sellu encouraged them to always report such matters to the Commission through 515 (all networks) and 077986986, as it is an act of corruption for any public officer to demand for money where government regulations did not authorize them to do so. She highlighted what constitutes an illegal charge under the Free Quality Education and Free Health Care programmes of the government.
Presentation of IEC materials to the Chiefs of Largo climaxed the meeting.
By George M. O Williams
03/02/2021. ISSUE NO: 7994