Ref: ACC/PR/21/025
26th July, 2021
PRESS RELEASE
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) wishes to inform the public that it has dispatched a team of Senior Officers to the Serabu Community Hospital in Serabu, Bo District, to conduct a comprehensive and thorough systems and processes review of the Hospital and further report on the identified corruption in the management of the Hospital.
This follows a tip-off the ACC received through a letter addressed to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Bo, Most Rev. Charles A. M Campbell, by the ‘German Doctors Hilfe, Die Bleibt’ relating to a series of corruption-related claims against the Management of the Hospital. The claims include; “recurring structural problems” at the Hospital, “non-settlement of account dating back to April, 2021”, “not acting on an Independent Audit issues, resulting to some worsening off”, “theft of medicine”, “violation of procurement rules”, and “doctors and CHOs working for weeks without gloves and medicine, even though funding was provided for by the German Doctors”.
The ACC is reviewing the Hospital’s systems and processes in accordance with Section 7(2)(c)(g)(h) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as amended in 2019, which mandates the Commission to review practices and procedures in Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), persons, authority, public body, or private sector institutions in order to identify corruption vulnerabilities and make recommendations to improve on efficiency and effective service delivery.
The Commission will work with the Serabu Community Hospital Management Board to review the systems and processes of the Hospital with the objectives of facilitating the discovery of systems failures and to secure revision of those practices that pose corruption risk.
The Commission wishes to reassure the public of its commitment to protecting public and donor resources and to address all levels of corruption throughout Sierra Leone.
For further enquiries on this and other ACC matters, please contact MARGARET MURRAY, Public Relations Officer on +232-78-832131 or via email info@anticorruption.gov.sl
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PATRICK SANDI
DIRECTOR, PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
