POLITICS SLPP Aspirant’s Take on President Koroma’s “No Sacred Cows” Corruption Campaign Posted by Mrs Kadi Johnson-Cole, SLPP Flag Bearer Aspirant, London, UK. on Dec 10, 2009, 10:04

As a Sierra Leonean who strongly believes in integrity and the rule of law, I believe I should comment on the disturbing articles published in the Standard Times highlighting the extent of corruption by some public officials.

Following the damming report against the NRA and Alieu Sesay by a reputable firm of auditors, as reported in the Standard Times, holding “a secret closed door meeting with the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, the Minister of Finance, the Chairman of the Board of the NRA, Financial Secretary, Edmond Koroma (whom he is also investigating over the NASSIT Ferries), DFID, the Auditors and Alieu Sesay himself, to “discuss” (rather than investigate) the issues raised in my article last week” in my opinion falls short of the standard of transparency required of the ACC’s Mr Tejan-Cole.

The misuse of donor funds in the form of corruption as highlighted by the independent auditors report published in the Standard Times and the abuse of position in the interest of self aggrandizement should be of major concern to the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) whose remit is to stamp out corruption and to exercise the ruling party’s stance of “zero tolerance” in corruption. 

Given that the ACC is more than happy to receive information on any individual suspected to be practicing corruption, an effective measure in dealing with anti-corruption, the ACC is duty bound to not only use any such information but to conduct an impartial investigation as this will uphold the ACC’s integrity. 

However, what I cannot fathom is the fact that the ACC in the process of executing its duties seems to be relying on members of the public to provide them with such information when the conduct of the ACC’s boss clearly shows that he is not willing to investigate persons he is directly or indirectly affiliated with.  If the Standard Times report is true, this calls into question the credibility of the ACC’s boss and his conduct raises more questions than answers.

If the Minister of Health was booked for failing to comply with procurement laws, then Alieu Sesay or any other individual should also be investigated and such investigation should not be conducted behind closed doors if members of the public should continue to have faith in the ACC.  Also, in the process of conducting any investigation, the party who is to be investigated should be relieved temporarily from his duties pending the outcome of the investigation.

It appears as if the ACC is operating a two-tier system, meaning one rule for connected persons and another rule for non-connected persons.  It is a double standard for government officials with State House connections to be excluded from prosecution or if caught asked to repay all funds misappropriated whilst non-connected individuals are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I therefore take the view that nepotism is ingrained in this administration.

The “No Sacred Cow” utterances make no sense of the President’s pledge on “zero tolerance” on corruption if the ruling party’s administration is seen to be negatively interfering with the works of the ACC thus making it impossible for the ACC Commissioner to execute his duties in a manner that will enable him to deal with allegations made against high profile officials as required by the rule of law.  The President is advised to put measures in place so as to avoid such malpractices of members of his administrative team.

I do agree with the Standard Times that there is a sacred cow being created by the ACC Commissioner’s inability to take action, despite overwhelming evidence.  This makes a mockery of the ‘No Sacred Cow’ concept.