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ACC, ‘independent expert’ & investigation in the public domain

ACC, ‘independent expert’ & investigation in the public domain

I must start off by again, commending President Koroma for making the ACC independent. He has demonstrated some qualities many failed to demonstrate as leaders of this country. But a word of caution fort the ACC; when President Ernest Bai Koroma allowed the ACC to have prosecutorial powers, thus making it independent of even the Executive arms of government, it was not to empower the ACC senior brass to settle scores with people, going on a witch hunt against perceived or real enemies of the friends and/or supporters of those at the helm of the affairs of the ACC.  The aim of the President was (still is!) that the cancer of corruption in Sierra Leone must be excised, as he had promised when he was campaigning as APC Leader to be elected President in 2007.

The President has the absolute determination to accelerate development in our country, to make this country the hub of business in the West Africa region, and that means a resolve to annihilate the beast of corruption; so, the President is ensuring that there are no ‘sacred cows’ as far as the war on corruption is concerned – hence we see some of the President’s cabinet ministers being prosecuted under the ACC Act 2008. While the ACC should be commended for using the teeth given it by the President, what is getting clearer is that the dictum that ‘Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely’ is true for the ACC today, as they are getting more inclined towards abusing their powers. My view though.

“President Koroma should also monitor the ACC”

A case in point could be the investigation report on the procurement of two ferries by the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), when current Financial Secretary of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Edmund Koroma, was its Director-General.  The systems and procedures to vet such significant investments were all followed by Edmund Koroma – through established committees, with the guidance of diverse experts in such matters, like the Sierra Leone Marinetime Administration! This was a key institution which provided expert advice on the purchase of these ferries was the Sierra Leone Marinetime Administration.

Now, I recently read in our local newspapers about an “Internal Investigation Report” report on the procurement of Masimera and Bai Bureh ferries by NASSIT.  This report was written by the ACC intelligence unit of the ACC with help from an expert co-opted by the ACC.  If we are to give credence to this newspaper reports, we need to thoroughly scrutinize the ‘expert’ that the ACC used to prepare its report.  In point 5 of the report, the ACC states that, ‘the commission in the course of the investigations sought the advice from an expert who concluded the following… the total amount of money that should have been spent for both vessels should have been nothing above 500,000 Euros…

I have investigated the matter as a Sierra Leonean. The SECRET ‘expert’ mentioned in the ACC report on the ferry issue was (is) said to be a retired Ship Captain by the name of A.  Macaulay.   Before we go into the competency of this ship captain in appraising the quality of a ferry that was bought, let us turn the spotlight on his “Integrity Quotient”!!  The answer is, “NO!!”  The expert, from my investigations at one time worked at the Port. But he could not meet the expectations of Sierra Leoneans. No wonder the Republic of Sierra Leone was compelled to employ a Ghanaian citizen from the Republic of Ghana to manage the Sierra Leone Ports Authority. So, this reality in my view (I dare the ACC to challenge this) places a serious dent on the credibility of the ACC expert – except the expert has an axe to grind against Edmund Koroma.

Again, it is in my view, unacceptable for the ‘expert’ to state in his report, that “…the total amount of money that should have been spent for both vessels should have been nothing above 500,000 Euros…”.  How did he come about this figure?  Why should the ACC quote what the expert said without quoting figures for ferries that have been bought by other West African countries?  Whoever heard that in the commercial sphere there are fixed prices for commodities?   .Come on, the elderly expert could have experience as a Sea Captain, but, that certainly does not give him competency to appraise a ferry’s worth.  That the ACC relies on a Captain is like saying because a bus driver has ten years experience in driving a bus, he automatically has the ability to appraise the details of the engine and make up of a bus.  No, no.  Buses are appraised by specialized engineers in auto mechanics, not bus drivers!!!  The quality of ferries must be appraised by qualified engineers, commercial experts, not Sea Captains!!!

And this expert, I learnt, was one of the several people interviewed when NASSIT was looking out for people to employ as captains for the two ships. But this I will deal with in other editions.

I also would refer readers to point 4.16 of the investigation report on the procurement of the ferries. It states that no comprehensive valuation was done but comparing vessels of a similar specification on various websites… the value seems very exorbitant…”. Is the ACC saying that the procurement of these ferries which ran through the gamut of the NASSIT Senior Management, Board of Directors, failed to pick up this jarring discordance in the price of the ferries which the ACC Report is now alleging?  Or, did the ACC report deliberately fail to take cognizance of other variables in the matter? 

By the way, is the ACC now conducting its ‘investigation’ in the public domain; and prosecuting (no, libeling!!!) senior government officials in the pages of the newspapers.  No one is going to convince me that the ACC report on the ferries which has been published in the local newspapers was not a deliberate leak by some people in the ACC.  If it is not, then, the ACC itself needs to be indicted, and prosecuted, for, in my view, not being able to protect sensitive information that borders on ‘National Security’, given the current position of Edmund Koroma as Financial Secretary. In an oblique way, some ‘clever people’ within the ACC not only want to undermine the APC government but, aim to undermine the State of Sierra Leone.

This is not funny at all.  And, President Koroma should be reminded as to who his true friends are; and who the patriots are; and not sit detached as the ‘attack dog’ it has empowered morph into a murderous monster. Just my view!!!

By John Sesay

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