The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday, 20th November, 2024,  organized a validation exercise for the fifth generation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tower Hill, Freetown. The strategy will run from 2024 to 2028 and will guide the structural issues allowing corrupt activities to thrive in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and local councils across the country.

Director of the NACS secretariat, Nabilahi Musa Kamara, gave a brief background of the strategy, stating that the development of the document is in fulfillment of the provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). “This strategy stemmed from the UNCAC which states that member states should develop a National Anti-Corruption Strategy through nationwide stakeholder consultation.” Mr. Kamara went further to explain the methodology leading to the validation: “This process started a year ago, and the Experts have traveled to all districts of Sierra Leone to gather the views of all stakeholders in the fight against corruption, in both town-hall meetings and one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders.”

Chairperson of the Team of Experts that developed the Strategy, Umaru Fofana, along with Mohamed Abu Sesay, a member of the Team of Experts, presented the draft strategy to the MDAs present at the session. Mr. Fofana implored his audience to pay attention to all the details and make suggestions, comments, and changes to the systems weaknesses and their proposed solutions.

“These are the views we gathered from the consultations we held with you a couple of months ago, we are expecting you to validate this document and tell us if it truly reflects the views you shared with us during the consultations we held. “You are free to suggest new systems weaknesses and solutions as they relate to your specific MDAs,” Mr Fofana said.

The validation exercise concluded with a plenary session, during which the different stakeholders gave feedbacks and recommendations on the strategy. The finalized strategy will be launched by the President, His Excellency Brig. (Rtd.) Dr. Julius Maada Bio, on December 9, 2024, which is the International Anti-Corruption (IAC) Day.

The ACC believes that the implementation of this strategy will significantly curb the rate of corruption in the country and create a conducive environment for development while building strong institutions that will resist corruption occurrences