Because of his busy schedule, the President Dr.Ernest Bai Koroma may not have been able to study the new Anti Corruption Bill 2008, presented to Members of Parliament for discussion and final approval. A copy of this Act was also given to the first gentleman of the state, but as indicated at the opening paragraph that because of his tight schedule, much attention has not been geared towards going through it page by page. That is why presidential office must have a team of lawyers and highly competent and dedicated officials entrusted with the task of cross-checking and examining documents, such as agreements, licenses, legal papers and advised the president about their implications in the legal perspective and benefits if there are any.

The President because of limited time may not always find it possible to examine some of these papers and documents. The Secretary to the President, or call him/her aide to the president is the President’s helper who do most of the writings and most of the time  advised him on certain national issues. Mr. James Sanpha Koroma must have on his table by now a copy of the new Anti Corruption Bill but will not make his position known about the bill publicly for various reasons including protocol. He too has been a victim of the Anti Corruption Commission during the Tejan Kabbah SLPP era when Val. Collier was Commissioner of the ACC.  Kabbah, when he wanted to strip Mr. James S.Koroma off his job as the Central Bank Governor used the Anti Corruption Commission against him.

The ex-president in a letter secretly sent to the Commission highlighted areas that Val. Collier and his boys to investigate. Standard Times published the letter and identified the source of the SCOOP. State House/ Presidential Lodge came out with a press release, as usual de-linking the president from the SCOOP, but Standard Times stood firm and in the next day edition replied the ex-president that as a citizen of the state he was right to pass on information to the Commission pending the correctness and accuracy of it. The reason why the editorial staff was very comfortable to challenge the press release from State House/Presidential Lodge was as a result of the availability of a copy of the letter sent to Val. Collier which was in the possession of the paper’s editors.

Some people were surprised to read in the paper how ex-president Kabbah became an informant to the Anti Corruption Commission considering his relationship with Mr. James s. Koroma. Unfortunately some of us were not surprised, knowing his true character as an individual who hates to see other people progress. To the doubting Thomas’s a list of individuals including this writer who was detained on the orders of the ex-president when the Gaddaffi rice publication was out is just one example of people that the ex-president tried to destroy. There are others like Solomon Berewa, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, Okere Adams, Dr. Alfred Bobson Sesay, Dr. Prince Harding, Mohammed Kamal Wanza and a number of good hearted Sierra Leoneans, but since this is not the subject of this article another lesson will be arranged with readers of this column to obtain a clear picture about the dilemma some people, including those mentioned had gone  through in the hands of the Kabbah administration and today he lives at Juba Hill without true friends, only people like Dr. Fadlu Deen, Alhaji Momodu Koroma and his “new-old wedded” Isata Jabbie-Kabbah and pauwi are with him.

The ACC put a lien on the property of the ex-Central Bank Governor that attracted legal battle involving brain like lawyer Berthan Macaulay to save the assets and property of the former governor. The reason for highlighting this case is to ring a bell to the public about how the Anti Corruption Commission can be used, misused and manipulated to settle score and destroyed good people in society.

Many times, the objectives for the establishment of such entity are bypassed or abused; this was very typical in the past in this country. The situation, if t he new bill is passed into law would be disastrous with no one to check the overwhelming powers of the Commissioners. The prediction is that the president himself when the lion is ready to devour may not be saved. One would not be surprised to hear that members of the Anti Corruption Commission went to State House to effect an arrest either on the President or officials working there.

Some few weeks back some members of the Commission were seen at State House to arrest a Cabinet Minister on allegations of corruption that the ACC up to this day has not been able to prove. The informant later told the ACC that the information he supplied to them was just “hearsay” which he himself failed to verify before passing it over to them. Is this not recklessness? Assuming that the Cabinet Minister was arrested the day in question, the media would have published the story as the event took place and the reputation of the minister destroyed forever. That is why when heaping blame on the media for irresponsible and inaccurate information published, institution like the Anti Corruption Commission should be equally blamed for peddling wrong and unsubstantiated information.

There are so many individuals whose reputation has been tarnished by the Anti Corruption Commission to which they have received no compensation up to this day. Apart from the democratic elected president, whose power to rule is derived from the people, no other individual of the state has such power. The president with the powers invested on him by the 1991Constitution has the right to detain, hire, release and give employment to any individual. When talking about detention referencing the right of the President it cannot be done arbitrarily, and when done it should be in the interest of the state and not of personal reason. An individual(s) can be detained if they (he) is/are considered   threat(s) to the stability of the state. During a state of Emergency, declared by the president in a war situation the powers of the president is “tripled” or “quadrupled” he can do anything in the interest of the state, but such periods are limited. This was one of the strategies ex-president Kabbah had wanted to introduce prior to the election, unfortunately there was no justification for a state of Emergency to be introduced at that time so his ambition did not achieve any dividend.

The new Anti Corruption Commission Bill, apart from consolidating the position of the Commissioner for five or ten years gives absolute power to the Commission to arrest anyone under investigation, seize or confisticate  his/her property  and detain him/her as long the Commissioner would want. This is deprivation of the human rights of the individuals. Interestingly, but rather sadly the powers of the Commissioner are almost equal or above the president.

What some Sierra Leoneans must not ignore is that if Parliament enacts the bill without reducing the overwhelming and absolute powers of the Commissioner they too are in trouble. There is a section in the bill that talks about money to the tune of Ten Million Leones, if found in the account of public officer, he or she must explain how that money was acquired. Is this not ridiculous? Let’s assume, a civil servant that has worked all through his life, say for thirty or more years can’t he afford the sum of Ten Million Leones. This is making mockery of the low salary structure of civil servants that since their salaries are ridiculous they are not entitled to have in their accounts any amount to the range of Ten Million Leones or above.