By Foday Moriba Conteh
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday 21st July 2020 heightened the knowledge of senior management and staff of the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) on corruption prevention safeguards.
In her statement at the Commission’s Conference Hall, Mena Hill in Makeni, ACC Regional Manager North-East, Mariama Navo underscored the significance of the engagement, noting that it provides a platform for both institutions to reflect on certain bad practices that have the tendency to undermine the delivery of social services to poor and vulnerable groups.
She reminded staff of NaCSA of their sacred responsibilities to the people of this country, by providing social and economic opportunities, embarking on capacity building for local Government workers and providing humanitarian assistance. The Manager affirmed the ACC’s commitment to working with NaCSA to eliminate fraud in the social safety net program, promote best practices in the delivery of social services to deprived and remote communities, encourage frontline workers to imbibe integrity in the implementation of all programs and forestall mismanagement of donor/public funds and properties, as this will help maintain the trust and confidence of beneficiaries and donor partners.
In his submission ACC Prosecutor, Timothy P.M. Sowa Esq. asserted that corruption is one of the barriers to the successful implementation of social safety programs. He dilated on a number of offences in the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as amended in 2019 such as; misappropriation of public funds/property, misappropriation of donor funds/property, abuse of office, abuse of position and gifts. He disclosed that, upon conviction on the aforementioned offences, the penalty is a fine not less than fifty million Leones or imprisonment of not less than five years or both such fine and imprisonment.
The Northern Regional Coordinator of NaCSA, Brian Smart Kanu, acknowledged the numerous challenges that seem to have not only adversely affected NaCSA’s operations but also tend to dent the reputation of the institution. Mr. Kanu assured that, NaCSA will continue to institute its corruption prevention measures in all of their programs in a bid to keep their operations corrupt-free.
The meeting was chaired by ACC Public Education Officer Abdulai Saccoh who implored the participants to adhere to policy and procedures guiding their work as the law does not romance with offenders.
