ACC Commissioner raps with stakeholders in Bo

On Monday 2^nd July, 2012 the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Mr. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara visited the city of Bo with a delegation consisting of staff of the Commission mostly based in Freetown. It was a red letter day for most people of Bo as they had the opportunity to meet with the commissioner and get first hand information about the work of the commission.

The visit was meant to engage key stakeholders in the Southern region including provincial administration, civil society, the media, bankers, and the health sector and furnish them with current update with regards the fight against corruption in the country.

In his first engagement with the civil society and the media combined at the Bo District Council Hall, Sewa Road Bo, the Commissioner was introduced to the participants by Mr Shollay Davies, Director of Public Education and External Outreach of the commission. Mr Davies gave a synopsis of the visit which largely had to do with physical engagement of the commissioner with key stakeholders in the region and to apprise them with current updates and development in the fight against corruption. He informed the enthusiastic civil society and the media activists present that the commission had made tremendous impact in the fight against corruption and such magnificent achievements should be credited to the other key partners including civil society and the media. Mr Davies informed participants that the commissioner was desirous to meet most of his partners across the country so as to cement the positive relationship and provide them with the correct information regarding the work of the ACC. He said such information could be worthy of dissemination to the general public. Mr Davies encouraged the participants to listen attentively to the commissioner and ask pertinent questions at the end of his statement.

Speaking to the combined audience of civil society and the media, the commissioner expressed his delight to meet this dynamic group that forms one of the pillars of our engagement in the fight against graft in the country. The commissioner took his precious time to give update in the work of the commission and emphasized the pivotal role the civil society and the media should play in the area of demanding accountability and providing accurate information to the public respectively. He emphasised the issue of partnership and collaboration with the civil society and the media and stressed that they must be committed to the fight against corruption. He informed the participants about the number of cases that were active in court (25) in which among them included the Freetown City Council, the Freetown Waste Management and that of the proprietor of Universal Radio and SLRTA officials. Commissioner Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara catalogued some of the successes of the commission at the international scène; amongst which were the improvements in ratings by international anti-corruption and governance institutions including Transparency International (TI) and Mo Ibrahim Index. He said we should be proud that Sierra Leone was now a reviewing country of other countries’ anti-corruption efforts including Mali. In the area of prevention, the Commissioner highlighted key institutions that have been reviewed by the commission including Customs, Fire force and currently the university starting with Fourah Bay College.

The Commissioner congratulated the media particularly the radio for disseminating vital information pertaining to the work of the Commission but did not mince his words to express his disappointment with some members of the press who have been publishing misleading information aimed at tarnishing the good name of the commission. He informed participants about the fruitful relationship that exists with “Media Alliance Against Corruption”, an organisation created to forge a fruitful relationship with the commission in the recent past. Commissioner Joseph Kamara assured the media that he would continue to be a strong advocate of a freedom of information law but he was sometimes worried about the misuse of information by some portions of the press which will be counterproductive to the essence of that legislation.

At the end of his statement the civil society and journalists present asked a range of questions bothering on the delays in the prosecution of cases to the actions taken against corrupt individuals found culpable in court.

Addressing a mammoth crowd of stakeholders including bankers at the Provincial Secretary’s Office, Commissioner Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara did not remiss his responsibility to refer to the plethora of stakeholders present as the ‘constituency of the ACC’.Like in the meeting with the civil society and the media, he expressed gratitude to all public officials present for receiving him so warmly. As usual he took his time to give update of the current activities undertaken in the Commission and encouraged all public officials to work hand in glove with the commission to promote transparency and accountability in various institutions in the country. The commissioner did not mince his words to remind public servants that they must be role models and bastions of change as the ACC needed their input to put graft under control. He was also very concerned about private sector corruption where he accused some bank officials of colluding with unscrupulous individuals to deprive government of the necessary revenue to promote development in the country. The Commissioner therefore cautioned bank officials to be vigilant in that area as the ACC was on the prowl to deal with the situation precisely.

 Commissioner, Joseph Kamara also made it clear that he was not pleased with the asset declaration exercise in Bo as the analysis has proved that the number of declarants of assets in Bo was not encouraging. He said they would have to collate the names of declarants later on and those who have not declared will face the court of law.

The participants including the Resident Minister asked very important questions pertaining to the involvement of ACC particularly in the provision of imprest and improved conditions of service for public officials by government. The Commissioner was forthright to associate low wages as one of the difficulties in the fight against corruption. However he encouraged public officials to be patriotic and improve on their efficiency to promote accountability and transparency in their respective MDAs.

The climax of the Commissioner’s tour was an address he also made at the Bo Government Hospital where he met operatives of the health sector including the Medical Superintendent and District Medical Officer. Both the former and the latter gave impressive speeches about the development in the hospital and the free health care particularly. The commissioner was blunt to inform participants that the commission was very passionate about the implementation of the free health care policy and he cautioned all those that should drive the process to be transparent and accountable. He said the commission adopted various strategies to get at people who wanted to distort the process and one of them was conducting covert operations.

The commissioner assured health professionals that the commission will always work with them in the spirit of promoting transparency and accountability in the health delivery system.

Questions were then asked by the health workers concerning limited logistics and medical supplies which often posed a problem in the efficient delivery of services. The Commissioner replied that they were legitimate concerns and assured them that these issues often constituted part of the recommendations in the systems reviews.

They were also informed that they must complete the asset declaration forms as the commissioner would take to court those who have not completed them yet.

The tour of the Commissioner in the region was very successful in the region and many stakeholders appreciated the visit.

ACC, Bo

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