The National Anti-Corruption Secretariat (NACS) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has commenced the monitoring of the implementation of the 2024–2028 National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) across three local councils in the North-West Region.
The exercise, which started on Monday, 1st September 2025, focuses on reviewing anti-corruption measures adopted by the Port Loko District, the Port Loko City, and the Kambia District Councils.
Introducing the ACC’s monitoring team from Freetown, the ACC’s North-West Regional Director, Madam Zainab Othman, underscored that the NACS serves as a national roadmap for combating graft and addressing systemic loopholes that undermine effective and efficient public service delivery.
Explaining the purpose of the exercise, the Director of NACS, Madam Mariama Navo, noted that the monitoring seeks to strengthen institutional systems, increase accountability, and eliminate corruption vulnerabilities, aimed at ensuring efficient service delivery to the public. She emphasized that the strategy promotes results-driven leadership and urged the Councils to ensure the existence of operational Integrity Management Committees (IMCs) in all the MDAs that will mainstream anti-corruption measures into their daily operations.
At the Port Loko City Council, Director Navo led discussions with the IMC members on issues relating to donor-funded and other projects, compliance with policies and regulations, and transparency in tax collection and revenue management. Similarly, the Public Education Officer Mohamed Thullah engaged the Port Loko District Council’s IMC members on matters dealing with audit queries and processes, compliance with procurement practices and audit recommendations, records management, service charters, and the effective functioning of IMCs.
In Kambia District, the ACC’s Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Mr. Moses Bangura and the NACS Coordinating Officer, Madam Manteneh Lamin held similar engagements with the the management and IMC members of the Kambia District Council. Mr. Bangura highlighted that the 2024–2028 Strategy prioritizes preventive mechanisms, institutional reforms, and collaborative approaches that empower local governance structures to foster a culture of zero tolerance for corruption. He further stressed that the strategy adopts a performance-based monitoring framework and promotes evidence-based reporting to measure its real impact on governance and service delivery.
While in the regions, the NACS team paid courtesy visits on key regional authorities, including Senior Assistant Secretary Alhaji Kamara at the Provincial Secretary’s Office in Port Loko, etc, and encouraged the establishment of an IMC in the office of the Provincial Administration to help strengthen anti-corruption measures within the secretariat. The team also met with the Resident Minister, Ambassador Umaru Bundu Wurie, to brief him on the monitoring exercise and seek his continued support.
The monitoring exercise will be replicated in the coming days at the Karene District Council as part of ACC’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that anti-corruption interventions are effectively implemented, tracked, and sustained across governance structures nationwide
