By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
Anti-Corruption Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala has told the media that the wife of the Clerk of Parliament Abibatu Tarawally has repaid 131 thousand new Leones she reportedly received as salaries from Parliament without reporting for work since her appointment .Kaifala said twenty thousand Leones balance is yet to be paid.
The Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC) boss told Journalists at the Government’s weekly press briefingin Freetown on Tuesday that the repaid money is for 10 months, as investigations unearthed that she had received salaries for 19 months. "Mr. Paran Tarawally and his wife are under investigations," he stressed.
"Since I became a commissioner, we have recovered monies and we have also prosecuted cases," Kaifala said.
He said they have recovered over 65 Billion Old Leones from corrupt individuals over the past six years. The Commissioner said since in his appointment 2018, they have not been fighting corruption in "hiding."
He noted that the fight against corruption is built on four pillars, namely investigations, prosecution, public education and prevention.
He said throughout the six years, they have implemented all the said measures in the fight against graft.
"We go at all the different offices to check their systems and processes," he said, and they give policy recommendations and monitor the implementation of those recommendations.
The ACC Commissioner said they are being recognised by international and local organisations in the fight against corruption, and that has helped reduce its prevalence.
Before taking over as Commissioner, he said corruption was at 70% referring to a study by Afro Barometer, but that during his first year in charge, corruption dropped to 40%. He noted that in 2017, Sierra Leone was not making progress in the Millennium Challenge Corporation ( MCC), scoring 49% by then. Since 2018, Sierra Leone has "consistently" been making progress in the MCC scorecard, he went on. "For the past six years in a row, Sierra Leone has been having over 70% in the MCC," Kaifala added.
He said Sierra Leone was placed 131th in the fight against corruption globally, and "we were in the red zone." He noted that Sierra Leone is now 110th in the fight against corruption globally.
"Locally and internationally, there is validation of our work," he said, noting that they cannot say they have "killed" corruption, but what they are doing at the ACC is "better than any time in the history of Sierra Leone."
Responding to questions, he said the ACC has 36 cases in court, and that 12 are "reserved for judgment."
When cases are sent to the court, he said they sometimes take a while. In order to reduce the burden on the judiciary, Kaifala said they "sometimes" recover monies from convicted corrupt individuals. He mentioned how they have recently recovered 4.3 billion old Leones from convicted SLRA and Ministry of Finance officials.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (24/01/24)
