By Amin Kef Sesay
On the 30 December, 2020 ,Francis Ben Kaifala Esq, the Commissioner at the Anti-Corruption Commission, publicly presented a third cheque of Le8 billion as cash recovered from the corrupt, bringing the total to Le26.8 billion in 2 years.
Handing over the cheque to His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio at State House, the ACC boss stated that the Commission is not only responsible for fighting the corrupt, but also mandated to go after corrupt monies and assets in the country.
He said a strong anti-corruption effort goes after “the assets” in addition to strategies like prosecution, prevention and public education and not just “the person”.
The ACC Boss noted that, “In Africa, we have been a leading example in the way to fight corruption and I am proud to say many other countries are following and learning from us”.
He went further to point out that, the cheque being presented by the ACC is part of undiluted non-conviction-based asset recovery effort only; and does not include monies recovered on behalf of Government agencies, fines imposed by the Courts, and other assets recovered like houses and vehicles.
“No country in Africa is doing it like ours in assets recovery. Therefore, your Excellency, as part of that commitment we have been accumulating resources as we collect them. This is a way of giving back to the people what we recover from the fight against corruption. This is a cheque of 8 Billion Leones recovered in 2020 and does not include assets and fines but purely cash recovered,” he stated.
Receiving the cheque, the President thanked the ACC Commissioner and his Team for “the way they have spearheaded one of the most difficult fights admirably”. He said most of the problems the country faces today were as a result of acts of corruption and the fact that little or nothing was being done to combat them over the years preceding his tenure. “We know corruption always fights back, but we should never relent because this is a fight for the poorest of the poor,” the President said.
He said he was happy that the anti-corruption campaign is producing results that have made him proud because of the way other nations make reference to Sierra Leone’s anti-corruption efforts in his presence at high level meetings and in conversations among his peers. The President reiterated his commitment to building a modern medical diagnostic centre in Sierra Leone from the stolen funds recovered by the ACC, which he said are part of his Human Capital Development agenda.
He encouraged them to continue the good fight for the benefit of the nation, adding that the country had made tremendous progress, which he noted many countries had not made in recent times.
“It is now a part of our administration’s culture of not only fighting corruption, but also giving back corrupt proceeds to the Government. Before this time corruption was fashionable in this country, but I think it is not fashionable anymore,” he noted.
President Bio ended by assuring that all cash recovered from corrupt people in the country would be directed towards the construction of a modern diagnostics hospital, which would be necessary for the development of the health of citizens and promote human capital development.
