By: Jeneba Kemoh
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), has organized a one-day popularization engagement with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the District on the ACC’s Compliance Management and Sanctions Enforcement Procedure Handbook for MDAs.
The Handbook was produced by the ACC Prevention Department with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) for the implementation of systems and processes review recommendations in public offices.
Director, Public Education and Outreach Department of the ACC Patrick Sandi said, the Commission has realized that some public offices often reneged on their duties to implement systems and processes review recommendations, adding that the Handbook will help MDAs in implementing the recommendations emanating from systems and processes review exercises. The Handbook, when properly utilized, he added, will enable public officers to understand the framework, which they would adopt to fully implement the review recommendations. Mr. Sandi said the Commission is popularizing the Handbook to enable public officers to be acquainted with its contents, having held similar popularization exercises in the other regions of the country.
The Director also encouraged his audience to institute corruption prevention measures in their offices, describing them as one of the easiest and effective ways to address incidences of corruption in public offices. Prevention, he said, is one of the surest ways to promote and institute integrity, transparency, accountability, and further ensure improved service delivery in MDAs.
Mr. Sandi furthered that, the Commission is poised to invoke non-compliance sanctions provisions in the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008, as amended in 2019, against institutions which fail to follow recommendations produced after systems and processes review exercises. He therefore encouraged the public officers to get themselves abreast with the contents of the Handbook for proper utilization of same.
Senior Regional Prevention Officer ACC, Francis Kinnie Lassayo gave a detailed presentation on the contents of the Handbook and further encouraged MDAs to work to institute anti-corruption measures in their offices, noting “prevention is better than cure”.
