By Amin Kef Sesay
In a Position Statement dated the 17th March, 2021, issued by the Legal Link organization relating to the findings of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on its investigation of Parliament over alleged corruption and misuse of Constituency Development Funds, it maintained that while it is true that the prosecution of a huge number of Parliamentarians by the ACC might have produced hardship to the work of Parliament and further undermine State governance and legislative proceedings, it would have been prudent, measured and reasonable however for the ACC to have required from Members of Parliament a full refund of the monies given to them that they were unable to account for or expended in ways that were inimical to the object and purpose of the funds.
Legal Link continued that the ACC was unable to settle for the latter at the very least, even in the face of pregnant evidence of corruption as revealed in their investigative report and findings.
That, according to them, puts the ACC in a bad light and further reinforces the perception of selective justice in the institution’s fight against corruption in the country.
The organization furthered that while they take cognisance of the immense achievements of the ACC under Francis Ben Kaifala, it is also vital to pinpoint that on this exceptional situation, the ACC, in their quest towards giving a deadly blow to parliamentary corruption in the country threw away both the bathwater and the baby.
