ACC Public Relations Office: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 04 January 2021:
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) hereby informs the general public that it has recovered the sum of Five Million, Two Hundred and Sixteen Thousand, Four Hundred Leones (Just over Four Hundred Pounds Sterling), which, according to the COVID-19 Audit Report 2020, was funds allocated to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, but which some officials of the Ministry used to buy personal high-end gadgets without following proper processes and procedures as per the Public Finance Management Regulations.
According to the COVID-19 Audit Report 2020 by the Audit Service Sierra Leone, the said personal high end gadgets were delivered to one Sahr Steve Yambasu of the Ministry.
The items were said to have been authorised and bought by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abdul Rahman Musa Fofanah, for the use of the Minister of Health, to facilitate Zoom and other online meetings by the Minister, in response to the need for more reliance on virtual meetings where such gadgets would be necessary.
However, the officials did not follow proper procurement and documentary processes to ensure the purchase was in accordance with public finance management directives of the state.
As a result, the said Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abdul Rahman Musa Fofanah, was given 24 hours to produce the full refund to the State or face the full force of the law; which he has done by making a full immediate payment to the ACC for onward payment into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The ACC will continue to examine both the Auditor-General’s Report 2019 and the COVID-19 Audit Report with a view to ascertaining violations of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as Amended in 2019, or needs for intervention by the ACC; and/or identify system weaknesses within the audited institutions for appropriate prevention efforts to address them.
For further enquiries on this and other ACC matters, please contact MORIS IBRAHIM KANTEH, Assistant Public Relations Officer on +232-78-832131 or via email info@anticorruption.gov.sl.
Congratulations to the ACC commissioner for his wonderful job in minimizing corruption based on the facts that corruption cannot be eliminated in any country but minimized. During the Ebola crisis under the destructive and Ayampie APC government, millions of dollars were stolen from the donations by the international community , and now through the examples that our current commissioner his established that is now paying dividends ,corruption has been reduced from the missing monies from millions of dollars to only $500.
“The proof is in the pudding”, this explains why Sierra Leone is one of the lowest risk country in the world in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. May the Almighty continue to bless President Bio, the Health Minister Dr. Alpha Wurie and the NACOVERC team for saving lives and preserving livelihoods.
Folks, ACC under the new direction is nothing but a sham entity, with its leadership serving mainly as a defence and cover-up lawyer for elite members of the PAOPA factions, many of whom continue to swindle our nation’s meagre resources unabated. Please take time to read below how much of our money the president and his wife spent alone on this past December.
https://africanistpress.com/2021/01/05/sierra-leone-president-and-first-lady-spent-over-le5-2-billion-on-december-travel-and-holidays/
Maada Bio’s ACC has made laughing very expensive to such an extent that it could lead to immediate bankruptcy. Just who does Ben Kelfala and his warped team think they are communicating with – a bunch of infants who are easily deceived with biscuits and a cup of Coca-Cola? Please ACC allow me to surprise you: Contrary to what you may think, Sierra Leoneans do have their heads situated on top of their shoulders. Where is yours located? Let us know immediately to help us assess you finally. When you do, we shall be in a position to detect why you never coughed, when the chief minister was associated with $1.5 million deposited into his account and for which he had a journalist unjustifiably locked up. The case of “China gate” may finally be resolved.
The missing billions from government departments and your snail’s pace in frog-matching culprits to your offices could also be understood. There could also be the opportunity for the public to understand why you are still sitting on your backside since the Auditor-general’s report came out alleging massive corruption in nearly every sector of of the government. $500 recovered and you are making so much noise about it like an empty vessel? Oh pardon me. Indeed an empty vessel makes the loudest noise.
I believe that the press release is in place for the awareness of the public. Whatever they do as a public institution weather big or small is important to communicate and send a signal to public servants who are thinking of involving in graft.
Last week was billions remember.
This bunch of opportunistic nonentities, that called themselves Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), are they screwed up or what? Hopefully, they are paying reasonably for their WASTE of space on this paper. What a shame. Anything that involves this fake SLPP government is now becoming a ridiculous affair to the eyes of the public. Actually, it is just a manifestation of what they are made of – a bunch of pretenders!
Mr Turay – please be informed that no one – I repeat – no one, is paying us for publishing any story you read here! Hope this answers your question. We are a free press that does not sell its integrity for brown envelope. Thank you.
Now we are getting somewhere. Is this a prank, or is someone trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the Sierra Leone public? The ACC and Bio are in lockstep in trying to deceive us to look the other way, whilst the real fat cats get away with their stolen loot. What can that sum of money buy you, in inflation driven “Bionomics” covid19 hit economy? The reality according to the 2019 audit report, there are billions of Leones misappropriated from the first lady’s office, Vice president, and others. What we want to know, is how the ACC plan to investigate those misappropriated funds, and what they intend to do to recover those funds.
Seemed to me there is one rule for the president and his close associates, and a different set of rules that apply to the rest of the low or middle ranking officials caught up in this web of corruption racket. You just look at the threatening language deployed to recover this small amount, and compared that to the deafening silence for the missing billon Leones that are still unaccounted for.
I think our international partners like the IMF and other financial institutions will do us all a great favour by turning off the tap of easy money to this government. Failing which, demand transparency and accountability from Bio and his government. This lack of action from the ACC, tells you everything you want to know how serious the ACC are in tackling this cancer we call corruption in Sierra Leone.
Goodness gracious, these delusional, blundering people never cease to amaze me.400 Pounds Sterling? Did I hear that correctly? Have these buffoons lost their minds? And why is such a trifling, annoying, insignificant thing being highlighted and emphasized instead of giving serious attention to tackling urgent matters of consequence and complexities? Why this over-concentration on trivialities by the inept SLPP government when there is a lot of hard work still to be done by the ACC in this difficult fight to eradicate corruption in Sierra Leone? 400 pounds huh?
Are these grasshoppers not ashamed of belittling themselves by drawing worldwide attention to such a pitiable catch that cannot even be compared to the value of our local fisherman’s daily haul?(lol) Wake up from your slumber guys – Try and measure up to the daunting task at hand. You must dig deeper in your soul and seize the courage and strength to elevate your game by standing tall and refusing to fight small battles with your hands tied and shackled with pettiness – life is much more bigger and better than that.(lol)
The ACC drag net doesn’t go deep sea fishing to catch the big fishes. It is concentrated on shallow waters for “funkia mina”.
Wow, we are getting a press release from the ACC, for a supposedly recovery of $500 (5,260,000 leones ) from a poor civil servant (small fish) out of the over 170 billion unaccounted for in the 2019 audit, mostly stolen by WHALES in the regime. What a monumental accomplishment by the ACC team, hahahah!