ACC Reviews Local Government, Prisons, and Fire Force
As part of its mandate under section 7 (2) (f) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission has carried out a systems review to three institutions namely, Ministry of Local Government, Internal Affairs and Rural Development, the National Fire Force and the Sierra Leone Prison’s Department. Systems reviews conducted by the Commission are aimed at reviewing the practices and procedures of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and making recommendation to reduce the likelihood of the occurrence of corrupt practices.
The three reports proffer recommendations for reform in all the three entities. They address issues such as revenue generation, conflicting roles in the collection of revenue, budget execution, internal and external audit, stores management, procurement management and project implementation.
The report on the Ministry of Local Government, Internal Affairs and Rural Development entitled ‘STRENGTHENING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE’ recommends that councils should improve on their revenue generation strategies and that funds generated from mining should not only be distributed to the affected chiefdoms but also to district councils. It further recommends that the relationship between local council and chiefdoms administrations should be clearly defined. It also calls on Councils to quickly recruit and train internal auditors and calls on the Ministry to establish a procurement unit and comply with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2004.
‘IMPROVING MINIMUM STANDARDS OF THE SIERRA LEONE PRISONS’ recommends that information on the allocation of budget by the central government to the Prisons Department should be publicised to all regional offices, imprest allocations to regional commanders must be reviewed to meet financial needs in the various stations and that the amount allocated for diet per prisoner should be reviewed in order to provide sufficient food for them. The Commission calls for the review of the Prisons Act to reflect the modern management of the prison services. It calls for improved human resource management in the department and states that every prison officer should be provided with job description and a performance contract. To avoid potential conflict and in accordance with the Public Procurement Act 2004, its calls on the Director of Prisons as head of entity to cease to be a member of the procurement committee. It also calls for the conditions of service for prison officers must be reviewed as part of the Government of Sierra Leone’s overall Public Sector Reform Framework.
On the National Fire Force, the report urges Government to take proactive measures to educate the public to take precautions to prevent fires, and be educated about surviving them. It calls for the procurement of modern fire fighting engines and equipment and chemical protective clothing for fire fighters. As with the prison Department, the Commission calls for the review of the conditions of service of the staff of the force and for the Head of the National Fire Force to relinquish his position as Chairman of the Procurement Committee.
The reports have been presented to the Deputy Minister of Local Government Internal Affair and Rural Development Hadiru Kalokoh and staff of the Ministry. The Commission will work with these three institutions to ensure that the recommendations are fully implemented.
Last year, the Commission issued two reports entitled “Recommendation for Reform: Towards a Better Health Care Delivery System†and “From the Abyss back to the Athens of West Africa†based on its systems review of the Ministries of Health and Sanitation and Education, Youth and Sports.
Glennis Frazer, Communications Officer , ACCStay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
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