By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) boss, Francis Ben Kaifala on Wednesday openly displayed to Journalists bundles of the Leone currency equivalent of 4,300,000,000 Old Leones (four billion three hundred million) which he said were stolen monies recovered from six Government officials that are currently under ACC investigation.
Speaking at the Press Conference held at the ACC headquarters in Freetown, Kaifala disclosed that the monies were turned in by officials working for the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) and the Ministry of Finance who are being investigated for corrupt practices.
He spoke about the commission’s efforts in combating corruption and of having recovered huge sums of money since he became Commissioner of the ACC. “The team at ACC doesn’t sleep,” he said.
Giving general updates on cases the ACC is investigating, Kaifala said the wife of the Clerk of Parliament, Abibatu Paran Tarawally had paid “in full” 151,000 New Leones (one hundred and fifty-one thousand) for salaries she received for the nineteen months even though she never reported for work. Kaifala said it is not wrong to employ relatives, but there are due processes to be followed, he stated. He further pointed out that the President will take administrative action over the Clerk’s corruption case.
He also mentioned a case connected to the National Revenue Authority (NRA), in which over Forty-five Billion Old Leones were siphoned through a bank by one Salem Mansaray and others, noting that Mansaray has fled to Dubai. ”We are trying to take steps to get him,” he said, and that the other people who were involved are here and will be held accountable. He maintained that they were going to try Salem Mansary in absentia.
On the matter involving one Fredrick Caulker, the ACC boss said Caulker conspired with “some people” to take out 1.6 billion Old Leones (one billion, six hundred million) that should have gone into NRA account. “That investigation is going on,” he said, but also stated that Caulker has fled to America.
He encouraged his staff not to be angry at the things being said about them by some people, noting that some individuals whom the public has trust in have been behaving “terribly” for so long. “Trust is not there,” he emphasized.
He maintained that the country is on the verge of “change,” as they are determined to fight against corruption, saying it may be slow now.
“The government has given us the responsibility of fighting corruption,” he said.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (26/01/24)
