By: Jeneba Kemoh M’bayo

The Eastern Regional Office of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has held a sensitization meeting with staff of the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO) at the company’s regional office in Kenema.

Explaining the purpose of the engagement, Public Education Officer Edward N. Blake, said customized meetings are one of the core activities of the Public Education and Outreach Department of the Commission. “We want to hold open and frank discussions in a friendly atmosphere with no intention of investigating any staff,” he said. Customer satisfaction, he said, should be of utmost priority to revenue generation institutions such as SALWACO. Mr. Blake said the objective of such meetings is to educate public officers on best practices, instill the culture of integrity in their daily work and enlist their support in the fight against corruption.

In her statement, Public Education Officer Jeneba Kemoh said the meeting is one of the Commission’s activities to promote integrity and best practices in public institutions to ensure proper use of public resources. She made emphasis on the importance of water to human beings, noting “water is life”.

She further spoke of the importance of SALWACO in public service delivery and their sacred responsibilities to the public, admonishing them to work hard in achieving effective service delivery and customer satisfaction. The Public Education Officer highlighted some concerns from the general public related to water supply such as: illegal connection, manipulation of meter readings, high tariffs, and encouraged the SALWACO staff to look into the said concerns. She further called on them to mainstream anti-corruption measures in their daily operations, develop and display citizens’ service delivery charter for customer satisfaction and to eradicate corruption.

In his remarks, Station Manager of SALWACO in Kenema, Mohamed Y. Sesay, thanked the ACC team, adding that meetings of this nature are timely as they serve as a platform to educate staff about corruption issues. He also described the engagement as a way to guide them in serving the nation. 

Mr Sesay further assured the ACC of their commitment to combating all illegal practices. He advised the staff to abide by the code of conduct of the institution and ensure effective and efficient service delivery at all times.

A question and answer session and the distribution of IEC materials climaxed the engagement.