The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has warned residents of Pate Bana Masinbo community in Shebora Chiefdom, Bombali District about the harmful effects of corruption, emphasizing how the scourge stifles development and deepens poverty, especially in rural communities.
Addressing residents at the open-air meeting held in the community on 5 March 2025, ACC’s northern region manager, Mariama Navo, said the pursuit of personal gain in public service was obstructing progress and widening inequalities. The situation, she stressed, is even more evident in rural communities which has approximately 74% poverty incidence. She suggested that the anomaly could, however, be extensively tackled by ensuring public officers accountably and transparently deliver services to rural dwellers.
The manager said that women in the rural settings are limited in accessing resources mainly due to cultural patriarchy, highlighting that their status becomes desperate where corruption is prevalent and unchecked. She urged the women to join in the fight to sanitize the public sector for improved and equal service delivery, and not merely acquiesce to the influence and dictates of their male counterparts.
Miss Navo described corruption as a major barrier to sustainable development, and called on community members to understand their rights and demand accountability from their leaders. She implored the community stakeholders to lead by example by resisting wrongdoing, and using their respective positions to defend the interest of the community. “Leadership is not a weapon to intimidate people nor is it a tool to perpetuate corruption,” she admonished.
Musa Mansaray, ACC Prevention Officer, also made meaningful contributions. He referred to corruption as corporate abuse underscoring involvement of community members who collude with unethical public officers or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to convert public interest to personal interest. Mr Mansaray gave an instance of a community whose members contrived with NGO workers to sell materials intended to build a school for the community.
He entreated his audience to refrain from colluding with rogue public officers against the common good, emphasising that there is no lasting benefit in betraying community interest for self-gain. Mr. Mansaray further stated that citizens need to form formidable anti-corruption coalitions within their communities to promote local social accountability and support the cause of the ACC.
Landmark legal reforms also formed an important part of the discussions of the meeting. ACC Senior Public Education Officer, Aiah Sourie, gave an overview of amendments made to the Anti-Corruption Act (ACA) of 2008. Aside from providing protection for corruption whistleblowers, the amended ACA of 2019 also provides for increased penalties for corruption offences, an effort that has significantly contributed in the prevention and control of corruption in the last six years.
In response to the anti-corruption messages, the chief of Pate Bana Masinbo, Aruna Tarawalie, thanked the ACC for the engagement, and conceded the plausibility of community members being complicit in acts of corruption. He promised to work with his elders and the rest of the community to resist and report corruption.
Earlier in the day, the ACC officers held a ‘Meet the School’ campaign with Fatima Academy Secondary School at Makama, a neighbouring community to Pate Bana Masinbo. During the session the officers informed teachers and pupils of the school about the immediate and long-term impact of corruption on the education system and the importance of upholding integrity.
