“Administrative lapses, out-dated laws and policies have led to the dysfunctionality of many State institutions and these anomalies can only be corrected when conscious efforts are made by all to tackle them” said the Provincial Secretary, South, Moses .M. Gbettu. He made this statement on Tuesday 28th February, 2023, in a customized meeting organized by the Public Education Unit of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Southern Region, at the Conference Hall of the Provincial Secretary’s (P.S.) Office, Tikonko Road, in Bo City.
Mr. Gbettu also stated that one of the core functions of their office is to oversee and allocate Government quarters to deserving civil servants. He furthered that, due to external interference and lack of staff capacity, such responsibilities seem to have been usurped.
The Provincial Secretary also highlighted that the lack of imprest, inadequate logistics and lack of documented policy on the allocation of Government quarters are some of the challenges that continue to render the office ineffective. Mr. Gbettu commended ACC’s strides in employing diverse strategies to enhance transparency and accountability in public sector institutions. He called on the Commission to undertake a systems review exercise at the Provincial Secretary’s Office.
In his statement, ACC’s Senior Public Education Officer, Abdulai Saccoh underscored that the Commission is an independent institution with its focus to promote ant-corruption values and punish offenders. Mr. Saccoh asserted that despite the assiduous efforts of the Commission to heighten transperancy, accountabulity and integrity in public sector institutions, there are still some unpatriotic citizens whose interest is to satify their selfish desire over that of the country.
Saccoh further mentioned that the lack of a documented policy on the allocation of Government quarters, the illegal occupation of the quarters by some Government workers, lack of a comprehensive database of the 236 Government residential quarters, are some of the thorny issues that the PS Office needs to resolve for the good of all.
The ACC’s Senior Public Education Officer shed light on some of the interventions the ACC have made on the 2021 Auditor General’s Report by ensuring that it has recovered so far over Two Billion (Old) Leones. He updated them on the consistent and remarkable progress Sierra Leone continues to make in the 2022 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index and other good governance rankings and indexes across the World. Mr. Saccoh affirmed the Commission’s commitment to working with Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to tackle areas of corruption vulnerabilities.
ACC’s Public Education Officer, Yangie D. Sesay in her submission said, the meeting was a deliberate attempt to interface with officials of the PS Office in order to shed light on some of the administrative lapses captured in the Auditor General’s Report of 2021, relating to the PS office, draw their attention to some of the unlawful issues that are of concern to the ACC and to promote professional ethics and integrity values in public life.
She urged them to continue to do the right thing even without supervision emphasizing, the significance of upholding integrity, transparency and probity.
Questions-and-answers session formed part of the engagement.
