Sierra Leone Postal Service Boss to Account for Le 7bn
Sierra Leone Postal Service (Salpost) workers past Wednesday demonstrated peacefully, displaying placards and demanding that the Managing Director, Samuel Koroma, account for the lumpy sum of seven billion Leones, which the protesting workers alleged, he has misused. (Photo: Salpost MD, Samuel Koroma)
Speaking to Journalists, the apparently disgruntled workers and retirees who are also crying for end of service benefit said government gave the money to the Salpost management to pay long standing salary backlogs and retiree benefits but the money was not used accordingly.
They accused that Koroma claimed to have used part of the huge amount to invest in buses and machinery that turned out to be white elephants while workers could not get what they were expecting from the money.
The demonstrating workers pleaded with government, through the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to intervene by mounting a thorough investigation into the use of the seven billion Leones.
Those workers who claimed their backlog salaries are still outstanding and the retirees claiming benefits begged government to help them get their entitlements so that they can quit what they described as a corruption- infested institution.
The protesting workers also accused the Managing Director of clandestinely running within Salpost his own financial institution called, Trust Income, reportedly headed by one Mr. Barbar, an act which they described as blatant corruption that deserves the immediate attention of ACC.
They continued accusing that the Director keeps recruiting new staff almost every blessed day even though he keeps grumbling that Salpost is going through financial constraints.
When contacted, the Managing Director explained that government entrusted only five billion Leones to him for certain activities, not seven billion Leones as alleged by the workers. He furthered that he used the money judiciously.
He described most of the workers’ allegations as false, unsubstantiated, malice-oriented, born of ignorance and designed to taint his hard earned reputation.
By Abdulai M. Kamara
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