ACC Partners with EDSA on the Pay No Bribe campaign
Pursuant to its mandate in section 7 sub-sections 1 & 2 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, the ACC met with EDSA on the Pay No Bribe (PNB) Campaign. The very high profile meeting took place at the premises of EDSA in Murray Town, Freetown on Friday 3rd March 2017.
In his opening remarks the Director General of EDSA, Ing. Alhaji Timbo praised the ACC for taking the initiative to sensitize their staff on the PNB and pledged to give his fullest support in all facets of the project that involves EDSA. Alhaji Timbo acknowledged that partnership and collaboration with the ACC is the best approach to the fight against bribery in particular and corruption generally. He maintained that EDSA has been embarking on mainstreaming anti-corruption measures and recommends that all MDAs endeavor to do likewise.
Speaking on the PNB, Patrick Sandi, Deputy Director of Public Education and Outreach, ACC stated that the project is a 4.7 million pounds DFID funded initiative directed to the fight against bribery in Sierra Leone. Mr. Sandi informed EDSA staff that the PNB is not prosecution driven but aims at doing a trend analysis of the cost, pattern and frequency distribution of bribery in the pilot MDAs which include EDSA, MEST, MWR, the SLP and MOHS. The Deputy Director emphasized that the PNB is designed to promote effective service delivery in Government agencies using a scientific and institutional approach. The PNB Deputy Director Sandi said ‘will provide information that has the capacity to transform institutional systems and structures in public institutions’. He encouraged EDSA to continue their collaboration with ACC and also to do their best in overcoming challenges that create opportunities for corruption.
Updating EDSA staff on the current statistics relating to EDSA at the reporting portal, Hawanatu Tejan, Monitoring and Compliance Officer ACC, indicated that of the 11,749 reports as at 3rd March, 503 were for EDSA. Among these, 203 were of the Western Area Urban. Of these 203, 170 acknowledged they paid a bribe, 26 said they did not pay, while 7 reported they met honest officials. Hawanatu informed EDSA that most of the reports were related to payments for new connections and re-connections. The range of bribes paid was between Le 30,000 and Le 250,000. The ACC Monitoring and Compliance Officer noted that this data should inform Management decisions at EDSA.
The meeting had plenary sessions which witnessed active participation from EDSA staff. The session ended with a vote of thanks by Sahr Nepor, Public Relations Officer, and PNB Focal person at EDSA, who thanked the Commission for its intervention.
ACC Freetown
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