ACC NEWS STORY
20th May, 2021
The Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Francis Ben Kaifala Esq., has on Thursday 20th May 2021, at the Cathedral Hall Gloucester Street in Freetown Sierra Leone, officially launched the first of its kind Compliance Sanctions Management and Enforcement Procedure Handbook to over thirty three (33) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) representatives present at the historic event.
This Manual which was developed by the Corruption Prevention Department of the ACC with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), is to serve as the toolbox for public sector institutions, which will facilitate the internalization of integrity and accountability tenets and requirements, reduce the opportunities for and incidences of corruption and ultimately improve on service delivery across public institutions.
Commissioner of the ACC, Francis Ben Kaifala Esq. in his submission underscored that, prevention of corruption is the ‘’bedrock” of an effective anti-graft campaign. Though enforcement which largely encapsulates investigation, prosecution, conviction and punishment of perpetrators of graft is usually what the public clamor for.
Commissioner Kaifala stated that, Benjamin Franklin’s axiom that ‘’an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’’ is as true today as the time he first said it.
The ACC Czar furthered that, though strong enforcement reinforces the fight against corruption with the possibility of strengthening deterrence, which ACC will not relax on, but effective and sustained prevention is the Real Deal he averred.
He said that with funding and support from OSIWA, the ACC has crafted and was today launching the first ever Corruption Prevention and Compliance Sanction Manual for all MDAs in Sierra Leone.
He called on the leaderships of all MDAs to treat with utmost seriousness the implementation of the compliance Handbook as there will be a spirited application of the non-compliance sanctions against defaulters.
Earlier, the representative of OSIWA, Idrissa Tamba Bindi, called on MDAs to own the Handbook and fully implement the requirements contained there-in. Expressing appreciation to the ACC, Mr. Bindi called on the Commission to be scrupulous in ensuring the workability of the Manual.
Senior Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Samuel Bangura who represented the Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service, thanked ACC and OSIWA for the milestone. He registered the commitment of the Civil Service to the implementation of all requirements of the Manual, adding that the preventive work of the ACC has contributed to improved service delivery, a gain the leadership of the Civil Service was not prepared to go unnoticed.
The Director of the Corruption Prevention Department ACC, Rashid Turay who presented the overview and baseline on the development of the Manual stated that “We shall come to monitor your compliance with the implementation and defaulters will be sanctioned”.
Deputy Commissioner of the ACC, Augustine Foday Ngobie, whilst chairing the historic ceremony reminded MDAs of their sacred responsibility of ensuring effective service delivery at their workplaces- which is one of the fundamental objectives of the Handbook.
An interactive training session for participants on the use of the Handbook climaxed the occasion.
© Public Relations Unit, ACC
