Members of Integrity Management Committees (IMCs) of various public institutions on Tuesday benefited from an educational session on the contents of the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS). The session was conducted by the NACS Secretariat of the Anti-Corruption Commission at the Commission’s Head Office in Freetown.

Welcoming the IMC members, the Deputy Commissioner of the ACC and Chairman of the programme, Shollay Davies, praised the turnout for the event which he said showed that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government are now responding to issues of corruption. He said the issue of corruption must be treated seriously because of the adverse effects of corruption to national development. Mr. Davies said the new NACS extensively covers both the public and private sectors in order to ensure a holistic fight against corruption in the country. The Deputy Commissioner said MDAs must see the mainstreaming of anti-corruption measures in their respective institutions as key to eradicating corruption and effective service delivery.

Making a presentation on the new NACS, the Director of the NACS Secretariat, Nabilahi-Musa Kamara, spoke of the provisions of the strategy including the national integrity systems which he said need the support and cooperation of each and every institution in order to ensure a robust fight against corruption. He said the strategy was also aligned to the Government’s Agenda for Prosperity in a bid to ensure a successful implementation of the government’s roadmap to development. Mr. Kamara also highlighted the core principles of the strategy’s implementation action plan which called for political leadership and the notion of “Think big and start small” which calls for gradual reforms across all the integrity pillars.

The NACS Director concluded by commending some of the public institutions which scored high marks in the implementation and mainstreaming of the previous strategy including the National Electoral Commission, the National Commission for Social Action, the Ministry of Education and the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration.

During the interactive session, members of the integrity committees asked questions relating to the new NACS, shared institutional experiences relating to the mainstreaming of anti-corruption measures in their respective MDAs and provided suggestions for the implementation of the new NACS.

The NACS 2014 -2018 was officially launched by Special Adviser to President Ernest Bai Koroma, Professor Monty Jones, on 17th June 2014 at the Miatta Conference Centre. It provides the country’s roadmap for the fight against corruption for the next five years.Start writing here...