Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, please permit me to stand on existing protocols.

I bring you greetings from the People and Government of Sierra Leone, led by His Excellency President (Rtd.) Dr Julius Maada Bio, who has shown tremendous commitment and support to the fight against corruption in the last six years.

I also extend greetings from the Anti-Corruption Commission, the lead anti-corruption agency led by a pragmatic lawyer, Francis Ben Kaifala.

The Anti-Corruption Commission- Sierra Leone came into being in the year 2000 through an Act of Parliament as an independent institution for the “prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of corruption and corrupt practices and to provide for other related matters.”

The Commission also makes effective use of its assets recovery and public education as part of its multi-pronged approach to the fight against corruption.

Asset recovery is covered under Chapter V of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and it is described as a “fundamental principle” of the Convention. According to Article 53, the Convention provides for the “direct recovery” of assets through legal mutual assistance between States. 

With this, “a foreign state is able to initiate a civil action in a foreign jurisdiction to establish title and ownership of property. It also means that courts should be able to order compensation or damages to a foreign state and recognise them as legitimate owners of property,” according to the civil society group, the UNCAC Coalition. 

The Coalition defines asset recovery as “the process by which the proceeds of corruption transferred abroad are recovered and repatriated to the country from which they were taken or to their rightful owners.”

Madam President, distinguished guests, Part VII of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 (as amended), the legislation which provides the legal framework for the fight against corruption in Sierra Leone, provides for mutual assistance and co-operation with foreign states for the recovery of stolen assets or assets emanating from the proceeds of crimes. By going through the courts, the Commission can file for seizure or forfeiture of the property in question.  

In Sierra Leone, though our anti-corruption legislation covers issues of mutual assistance for asset recovery, in the last six years, we have also gone further to intensify asset recovery exercises within the country. With the enactment of the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2019, the Anti-Corruption Commission, which is the lead anti-graft agency in the country, now puts into effective use our non-conviction based asset recovery strategy. 

This strategy is invoked where there is no reasonable prospect of conviction if a matter is charged to court after investigation. The Commission takes into account the fact that huge public funds or other resources are at risk of being lost if the matter cannot be charged. The asset-based recovery strategy, in simple terms, is meant to recover misappropriated/stolen funds (or other assets).

The recovery process most often involves a blend of restitution, forfeiture and cooperation agreement.

Forfeiture means to “lose the right to property including any property due, owing or belonging to or held on behalf of the offender…” With restitution, we ensure that the offender fully pays back to the State any public or donor funds or property misappropriated including an interest of not less than 10 %. 

The Cooperation Agreement entered with the offender ensures that the offender cooperates fully with the Commission by divulging to the Commission all relevant information related to the investigation and which may help in the arrest of conspirators and the recovery of further funds or property.

Where the offender is a public officer, section 7 (1) (b)(ii) of the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2019 proscribes a further punishment that empowers the Commission to impose a ban of not less than three years on the said offender.

Madam President, distinguished guests, in the last few years of our robust anti-corruption campaign, we have recovered through our non-conviction based asset recovery strategy over 3 million dollars in cash, and vehicles, houses, motorbikes and other assets which, cumulatively, cost far more than the cash recovered.

Due to the importance we attach to asset recovery, we have equally placed premium on our whistle-blowing mechanism, making it as robust and effective as possible. We all know that stolen funds and assets are always kept in secret. But it is also the case that some members of the public must have knowledge about such stolen wealth. This is why encouraging –and protecting – them from reprisals is very important in the asset recovery process. 

We are fully aware about Article 32 which states that “Each State Party shall take appropriate measures in accordance with its domestic legal system and within its means to provide effective protection from potential retaliation or intimidation for witnesses and experts.”

Article 33 of the UNCAC further provides that “Each State Party shall consider incorporating into its domestic legal system appropriate measures to provide protection against any unjustified treatment for any person who reports [corruption] in good faith and on reasonable grounds to the competent authorities.” 

Madam President, distinguished guests, Sections 81, 82 and 83 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 (as amended in 2019) deal with the protection of whistle-blowers, informers and witnesses. In particular, section 82 (1)(b) grants them immunity from civil and criminal liability. Such protection also relates to the non-disclosure of their identity and even the criminalization of their victimization by their employers or superiors.

Our Witness and Whistleblower Protection Policy of the Commission covers anonymity, identity masking, security, relocation, and transfer of witnesses and whistle-blowers, where necessary.

The Commission goes further to provide a reward to “any member of the public who provides cogent and useful information to the Commission that leads to the successful prosecution and conviction of, and/or recovery of funds or property from a corrupt person (including public officers) will be rewarded10 percent of the total amount or value of the 10 percent withheld by the Commission for its operations as per law.”

All our legislation, strategies, policies, and actions, have gone a long way in addressing these important provisions of the UNCAC on asset recovery and whistle-blower protection.