By: Christiana F. Jusu, Public Education Officer, ACC
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in a community outreach, town hall engagement held on Wednesday 18th October, 2023, has rekindled the hopes and desires of people of Hendubu Village, Kori Chiefdom, Moyamba District, in relation to the implementation of the Productive Social Safety Net and Youth Employment (PSSNYE) Project, funded by the World Bank, UNICEF and the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL).
This rejuvenation of their hopes was made in the presentation of the Director of Public Education and External Outreach, ACC, Patrick Sandi, when he noted that the Commission was smartly prepared more than ever before to ensure that there are no aspects of malfeasance and corruption in the project.
He underscored that the Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) architecture of the project, which the ACC spearheads would stop at nothing to taking every step to curb corruption in the project.
Mr. Sandi further assured the people and would be beneficiaries of the many interventions the Commission had made into the then Social Safety Net (SSN) project which accounted for its overwhelming successes, which is emulated by many other African countries implementing the Social Protection scheme.
In his statement, Head of Public Education Unit ACC, Michael Sesay encouraged the people to support the project, as its successful implementation will result in commendations from the Donors. He urged his listeners to make judicious and good use of the funds and opportunities that would be provided by the project for the betterment of their communities and themselves.
Explaining the role of the people in the project, Christiana F. Jusu stated that, they are to put the funds into good use such as, food and nutrition, health, welfare issues and small scale businesses in the bid to transform their lives and ultimately evacuate them from the state of poverty.
She furthered that in circumstances where they are genuinely dissatisfied and have grievances about the project, they should report same to the ACC who would engage the other stakeholder-partners for a resolve of the issue or complaint.
Andrew Forbie, Data Analyst, ACC, in his submission as the chair of the engagement, reassured the people of ACC's vigilance and emphasized that the people must be patient to allow things to work well. With the ACC, he stressed people should be at peace with themselves, as transparency, accountability, integrity, and openness form the hallmark of the project.
Earlier, the Town Chief, Hendubu, Kori Chiefdom, Moyamba District, Mohamed Swarray in his welcome statement, informed ACC and the Donors of the ways in which the former SSN had transformed the lives of his people. He thanked ALL the major players in the project implementation and said they were confident that with ACC, there will be no incidences of corruption as they will be seriously responded to.
Questions and answers formed part of the life changing engagement.
