Ref: ACC/PR/24/013                                                                                                                                                                                            5th July, 2024

The public may recall that sometime in October 2023, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) published a Press Release in which it indicated that it had commenced investigation into an allegation that the former Chief Immigration Officer (CIO), Andrew Jaiah Kaikai, whilst in office between the 1st April, 2018 and 3rd October, 2023 received three (3) vehicles (Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Fortuner and Benz G. Wagon) as Gifts. 

Procedurally, the Commission invoked Section 57(1) (a) of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 12 of 2008 as amended by the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act No. 9 of 2019 and a Notice was prepared and served on the office of the Clerk of the Sierra Leone Parliament requesting all documents relating to the Declaration made by Andrew Jaiah Kaikai to Parliament on his appointment as the prospective Director of National Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency. 

Another Notice was served on the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) requesting copies of life cards in respect of all the vehicles in question. Furthermore, Notices under Section 56(1) (a&b) were served on the shipping line that brought the said vehicles in Sierra Leone requesting the Bill of Lading and on the Manager Vantay Clearing and Forwarding Agency requesting clearing and forwarding documents in respect of all the vehicles.

After a thorough and forensic investigation into the matter, the Commission has the following conclusions:

1.That Andrew Jaiah Kaikai made a disclosure to the Parliamentary Appointments Committee of the Sierra Leone Parliament, that he accepted gifts in the form of the said three vehicles. The Commission also confirms he made a disclosure in his Asset Declaration Form to the ACC, whilst he was Chief Immigration Officer of the Sierra Leone Immigration Department.

2.That though he did disclose the said items as gifts, at the Immigration Department, since a Gift Register had not been created there, he did not provide details of the source and nature of the gifts as required by the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, as amended in 2019.

3.That the ACC acknowledges that it did not take proactive steps to clearly establish the form in which the Gift Register for public institutions, to enable public officers register Gifts, as provided for in Section 51 (4) (a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as amended in 2019, as follows; where a gift or personal benefit exceeds Five Thousand New Leones in value or where the total value received directly or indirectly from one source in twelve equal months….. the public officer shall-make a report of that fact to the relevant body within such time and in SUCH FORM as may be prescribed by the Commission.

4.That Vantay Clearing and Forwarding Agency did the clearing of the three vehicles on diverse dates: the Toyota Fortuner was cleared in November 2022 and the Mercedes Benz G-wagon and Toyota Land Cruiser LC300 were cleared in the year 2023.

5.That according to the Way Bills from Maersk and CMA-CGM (formerly Delmas) the vehicles were from United Arab Emirate and the port of loading was Jebel Ali.

6.That the sender of the three vehicles is one Wissam Elhousseim in Dallas Texas, United States of America, a Lebanese American citizen.

7.That Email received from Mohamed Irfan of Al–Kuwait Used Cars in United Arab Emirate explains that the procurer of the vehicles in question was one Wissam Elhoussein of Nation Autoflex 804E Walnut Street, Gaaland TX 75040, who confirmed to have given the vehicles to Mr. Kaikai as gifts.

8.That Mr. Kailai had made the declaration of these gifts to the Commission in his 2022 Asset Declaration Form, preceding the declaration he made to Parliament. The Commission recognizes that there was an absence of a prescribed form in which a gift register should be in all public offices, which left room for one not to have existed in the Immigration Department and we confirm that at present, the situation is regrettably the same with most public offices. 

9.The Commission contacted Mr. Wissam Elhousseim and he provided all documents of purchase of the vehicles by him as he confirmed that Mr. Andrew Jaiah Kaikai was his lawyer while in Texas, United States of America, and he sent the vehicles for him as a show of gratitude to him and his family. He consented and followed all processes of the Commission to verify his explanation and cooperated throughout the investgiation. 

In light of all the above, and considering that Mr. Jaiah Kaikai declared these gifts both to the Anti-Corruption Commission through his Asset Declaration and to Parliament, the Commission has concluded that the case has not met prosecutorial threshold.

The Commission will work with Public Institutions to ensure that Gift Registers are established  in institutions and encourage strict compliance with the provisions of Section 51(4)  of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as amended in 2019 going forward.

For further enquiries on this and other ACC matters, please contact Sylvanus Blake, Public Relations Officer, on +232-78-832131 or via email info@anticorruption.gov.sl.

…………………………..

PATRICK SANDI

DIRECTOR, PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH