On the 20th of June 2018, Sierra Leone’s President Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio dismissed its then Anti-Corruption Commissioner, Ady Macauley Esq from a position he had no business occupying in the first place. According to news reports, Since Ady Macauley was installed at the ACC in March 2016, the nation witnessed some of the most atrocious and uncultured incidents of corruption perpetrated by some of the most “sacred of goats” (since there were no sacred cows), while he looked the other way.
Mr. Macauley had been accused of loud silence in the way and manner with which he handled issues of corruption and fraud in the country. According to some estimates, a few scalawags, marauding as political bigwigs and their cronies went into frivolous contracts in the name of the state.
Some of those reprehensible contracts amount to the tune of SLL 10 trillion or $1.4 billion (USD); that, in addition to the SLL 4.9 trillion domestic debts accrued from lending with the local banks, and the $2 billion in foreign debts. In addition, Mr. Macauley, as well as his former boss, Mr. Joseph Kamara did nothing when the Koroma administration privatized almost all cash generating institutions in the country.
With many more accusations here and there, the president impeached Macauley and replaced him with a man Sierra Leone would easily describe as delectable and extremely intelligent.
The present commissioner – Francis Ben Kaifala is a man of vast knowledge, skill and exposure. The British-American trained lawyer is the youngest person to be appointed to a post that important. The 33 year old no nonsense lawyer was appointed to office in June 2018 and in less than one year since resuming office, he has recently released a new proposal and amendments to Anti-Corruption Commission Act.
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
He said “We promised at the end of 2018 that in 2019, we will push the boundaries of the fight against corruption further than ever, and make corruption a very costly and terrible choice for every Sierra Leonean who crosses the line against corruption that has been drawn by His Excellency The President.
To make good on that promise, based on the experiences and challenges with loopholes and weaknesses in the current Anti-Corruption Commission Act, we have now tabled before the current Parliament a very progressive amendment that, if our Parliamentarians do not stand in its way, will revolutionize and consolidate the fight against corruption in Sierra Leone for good.”
The proposed amendment has 9 parts to it, each addressing areas of improvement capable of giving the entire country an entire overhaul if adopted and implemented effectively.
A brief summary in highlights are:
1.Narrow the asset declaration pool to something manageable and less cumbersome. As such, only persons in elective offices, such as; presidential appointees; public officers in grade 7 and above; and public officials below Grade 7 who handle or control cash payments; make decisions for licenses or income generating processes; and are in regulatory institutions dealing with compliance, monitoring and inspection would be required to declare assets.
2. The minimum penalty for serious corruption will now be increased from 3 years minimum to five (5) years imprisonment.
3. The minimum fine will now be increased from Le30 million to Le50 million.
4. Judges will no longer have discretion to order restitution as conviction for misappropriation of public funds will now be followed by a mandatory order to additionally pay back the full amount misappropriated to the State.
5. The civil powers of the commission will be strengthened to enter into settlements with corrupt persons. But, any settlement emanating from that settlement shall mandatorily recover the full amount at stake as a minimum, and go with an additional mandatory ban from holding public office for 3 years minimum.
6. Since bad contracts are responsible for drowning Sierra Leone into billions of dollars in local and foreign debts, due to overpriced and wickedly negotiated contracts, the ACC will now have preventive authority to intervene in contract negotiations on grounds that they are against the interest of the people of Sierra Leone, and stop any performance on the contract for seven days within which time both parties will be at liberty to proceed to court, before a judge, to consider whether the ACC’s claim is justified or not. This action will be taken in line with the principle of “Prevention is better than cure”.
The burden of proving that justification, will rest on the ACC failing which the order will be discharged.
7. We are re-positioning and tilting the evidential burden of proof as follows:
- Where it is alleged that a public officer has been bribed, any gift above the value provided in the current Act or advantage given to that officer shall be presumed to be a bribe, until and unless he proves otherwise.
- Where it is alleged that money entrusted to a Public Officer has been misappropriated, the full amount will be deemed misappropriated, until and unless that Public Officer sufficiently establishes that it was used for the intended purpose.
8. Witnesses will now be better protected and severe penalties included for anyone who interferes with, unduly impedes witnesses or retaliates against any one assisting the ACC to report, investigate or prosecute corruption.
9. Many other revolutionary provisions to assist Sierra Leone place itself firmly on a footing for sincere accountability, transparency and integrity in Public Life.
Great things in GOVERNANCE are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.
The commissioner has strongly urged all Sierra Leonean to spread the message and let the Parliamentarians from their respective constituencies know that it is the people’s amendment.
Mr Kaifala did not miss on highlighting the importance of technology in this fight and encouraged the government to invest in prevention technology systems that would make detection and investigation faster, efficient and better.
That said, at this stage of our history, where corruption had shackled the soul of the country with public officials selfishly disrespecting their people – overcoming the collective good and benefit, with this amendment we will make any one either bankrupt or go to prison, or both, while we do our best to prevent.
He boldly stated “This amendment is the right direction in the new direction”.
“Nothing threatens our survival more than corruption,” he began. “Politicians must understand that enough is enough.”
In a Chat With The 33-Year-Old Anti-Graft Czar-Francis Ben Kaifala By Osman Benk Sankoh
Younger leaders are definitely indispensable in governance today. A country who recognizes this value is definitely heading for progress and growth.
Article Cupped from Author – Francis Ben Kaifala is the Head of the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commission.
