By Edward Vamboi
The High Court in Bo, Southern Sierra Leone, presided over by Justice A.T. Ganda, on the 25th February 2021, convicted Bockarie Sheku Mattia – a Supervisor on contract with Statistics Sierra Leone’s Bo office on one count of soliciting an advantage, contrary to Section 28(2) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act No. 12 of 2008 as amended by the Anti-Corruption Act No.9 of 2019.
Justice Ganda ordered Bockarie Sheku Mattia to pay a fine of Fifty Million Leones (Le: 50,000,000) within a period of one month, effective from Thursday 25th February 2021, or serve a five-year jail term.
According to the particulars of offence presented by the ACC Prosecutor, between 1st and 3rd June 2020, in Bo, Southern Sierra Leone, Bockarie Sheku Mattia, while on a verification exercise for the World Bank supported Social Safety Net (SSN) programme, which was meant to alleviate poverty among the poorest of Sierra Leoneans, solicited the sum of One Hundred Thousand Leones from a potential beneficiary of the programme.
“The Commission wishes to further reassure the general public of its relentless commitment to controlling corruption at all levels in Sierra Leone,” says the ACC.
