Sylvanus Blake, Deputy Director, Public Education & Outreach Department ACC
The People's Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Sierra Leone, Francis Ben Kaifala Esq, has, on Saturday the 26th September 2025, graced the graduation ceremony of the Kenema ICT and Management College (KICTAMC) at their Bockarigbay Street Campus in Kenema, Eastern Sierra Leone, where he also served as Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker.
At the groundbreaking graduation of fifty-two (52) young Sierra Leoneans, the Commissioner spoke on the theme "THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET: INTERPLAY BETWEEN SKILLS & INTEGRITY". The graduates, made up of 96% female, came from a BOOT CAMP SKILL TRAINING programme that provided them with adequate skills and qualifications in essential and economically viable fields like Beauty Make-Up, IT, Graphic Design, Event Decoration, Cake Baking & Design, etc. The event was also attended by hundreds of well-wishers, friends, and relatives.
"You have acquired very useful and trending skills that society needs today and can pay dearly for. When I paid over Thirty Thousand Leone (Le:30,000) for my wedding cake, for instance, it dawned on me that these skills could make fortunes if we commit ourselves to doing our utmost best as better is always possible. Society needs your skills and we will pay for them. Consider yourself experts in needed-fields and be proud of what you have acquired. Don’t be intimidated by these hyped professions that many wrongly believe guarantee fame, money, and success," the Commissioner stated.
Mr Kaifala went further to encourage the graduands to continue investing the required efforts and energy into the already acquired skills. He urged the graduating students to be determined. “You have to have Grit, which is an extreme desire to succeed and pushing yourself irrespective of huddles, distractions, and other difficulties. You have to have the GO-GETTER MENTALITY”, the commissioner admonished.
The well-couched theme enabled the erudite and people-conscious commissioner to dissect the relevance of Entrepreneurial Mindset with keen interest in not only the acquisition of skills but doing so with integrity, which he said is the most crucial virtue that the world looks for. He stated that integrity was always the icing on the cake for all professionals.
"Young people gathered here, I beseech you to always exhibit integrity in everything you do, do right and good at all times, whether being watched or not. This is key and clearly the biggest difference between success and failure. I wish you all success in the world at large, but please be sincere to yourself, your clients, and society. Nothing is as honourable as having and maintaining INTEGRITY,” the People’s Commissioner in his usual crusader voice stated.
The Commissioner was also honoured to introduce and officially launch two new courses that KICTAMC shall start rolling out this academic year; Corruption Prevention and Management Studies and Criminal Justice and Security Management Studies. He thanked the Chief Executive Officer of KICTAMC, Bockarie Bayoh and the staff and Management of the college for what he described as apt, timely, and considerate move to introduce such modules. He called on his audience and the general public to take advantage of the opportunity and upgrade themselves in these very crucial fields.
The event, chaired by Sulaiman B. Sowa Esq., was climaxed by the presentation of certificates to the graduating students by the People’s Commissioner, Paramount Chiefs and other stakeholders present. There were also educative poetry and melo-drama performances, and inspection of samples of the handiworks of the graduating students.
The graduands expressed their appreciation to the People’s Commissioner, when the vote of thanks was delivered by one of them, Florence Ngotto. She expressed joy that the ACC Commissioner, whom they regard as a beacon of hope and integrity as well as an academic juggernaut in his own right, was there to grace their occasion. They related well with Mr Kaifala, who has never taken second position in his stellar academic exploits that have seen him break and set records.
The People’s Commissioner, who has been dubbed by many as the “Dangerously Educated Man”, has been to almost every tertiary educational institution across Sierra Leone to deliver inspirational and resurrecting public lectures and engage in frank discussions with young people on intriguing and meaty topics. He has remained steadfast in contributing to the Human Capital Development trajectory of HE President Julius Madda Bio's Flagship program.
