Sierra Leone Telegraph: 26 September 2020:
As the dust settles following the publication of the Commissions of Inquiry Reports and the government’s White Papers responding to the recommendations of the Commissions, questions are being asked about vital information that appears to be missing in the published White Papers.
For instance, there are concerns that the former minister of information – Alhaji Alpha Kanu (Photo above) who many have accused of being corrupt, has been left out of the list of indictees by the Commission of Inquiry.
But in examining Justice Thompson’s Commission Report, it is evident from the following that Alpha Kanu has been indicted for corruption:
SUPPORT TO THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
(i) Issues in Controversy and Evaluation of the Evidence
31. The evidence presented by the State clearly indicate that the sum of Le73,000,000.00 and the amount of USD10,000.00 were given directly to politically exposed persons and staff of the Ministry without supporting documents. Exhibit (SALCAB) A1 – 109, page 28 is to this effect.
This was during the ministerial tenure of Alhaji Alpha Kanu. The evidence clearly indicate that he received the amount of Le32,000,000.00 and USD10,000.00; that Mr. Paul Sandi received Le35,000,000.00 as support to this Ministry. None of the foregoing sums, according to the evidence, were paid into the Ministry’s Account. There were no crossed cheques issued either.
The evidence was that those amounts were paid directly to individuals.
(ii) Conclusion
32. It is the Commission’s view, that the evidence unambiguously revealed serious breaches of established governmental disbursement policies and procedures for which Alhaji Alpha Kanu, former Minister of Information and Communications and Mr. Senesie Kallon, former Director-General of NATCOM are severally and jointly culpable.
(iii) Specific Recommendation
33. The Commission, accordingly hereby recommends that Alhaji Alpha Kanu, former Minister Information and Communications and Mr. Senesie Kallon, former Director-General of NATCOM refund, respectively, the sum of Le32,000.000.00 plus USD10,000.00 and Le35,000,000.00 to the State within a period of time to be determined by the Cabinet.
For clarity and completeness, the Sierra Leone Telegraph has made available the full and detailed reports of the Commissions which can be accessed below:
COI – JUSTICE BANKOLE THOMPSON FULL REPORT
How many people are involved in this commission of inquiry?
Mr Maturi, a strong APC is needed to check the powers of the SLPP. But I must be frank with you Sir, Your chief Sam Sumana will not be the flag bearer in 2023. Far from it, Sir. Look at the history of the APC. Only Limbas have been heads of the party. Do I, not as versed in politics as you, have to tell you this?
Let them pay before the ending of October if not let there be emergency action taken against them
Despite its shortcomings the white paper has accomplished an enormous amount in the seventy two hours since it became public knowledge. The temptation is really high to declare that the white paper has bagged fifty of its objectives. It has inflicted insomnia and terror on affected parties. Affected parties eat without tasting anything; they have lost a lot of weight; they walk around in a daze; they hallucinate about Bio standing right next to them asking them for deeds to their properties; stress and depression have set in; they want to know why they were born – the torment goes on.
But this is a joyous moment for us ordinary people. We are making a little holiday in our heart, it is a moment of well placed hope that we are negotiating a nasty corner of deeply rooted corruption in our society. At the controls is Maada Bio. If he allows any force to distract him from the set course, he will go down as the empty vessel which makes too much noise. He will be the tiger who became a butterfly in hours, with his military background providing the colours.
Holding on to his “new direction“ navigation will land the country where it needs to be. At the destination the former military officer will be greeted by a new team who will closely question him about some missing chickens and eggs and want to know where his chief minister and the rest of his team are. In other words our country will have entered a phase of public accountability which will make corruption anathema to everyone.
I would rather have all these glorified, brilliant commentators to be heads of state to make this nation a model in Africa – great as ever before. This time, with a twelve year term in office… only then we shall all be economically solvent, without a care in the world. No slums, no bad roads and most importantly, a belly-full for the laziest at all time.
Thank you very much Mr Dauda Mu Kamara for your brilliant thoughts. I believe you will hear the names of some commentators on this glorious platform in government in the future. This glorious platform will produce responsible and capable politicians ready to lead Sierra Leone so that “a belly full for the laziest” will be guaranteed. It’s going to happen. God bless you Mr Dauda Mu Kamara for your wise thoughts.
This President doesn’t have the slightest idea on how to build a sustainable future for generations yet to come; he is laying a shaky, flimsy foundation on pillars of tribalism retribution and revenge, hoping that it will stand the test of time – Go figure!(lol) we now know that all those APC officials who were let off the hook in this mindless pathetic charade have been smooching and cuddling with the criminal SLPP Cabal discreetly behind the scenes – monkeys and orangutans in a bed littered with bananas instead of with fragrant roses – try and make sense of such an eerie sight if you can!(lol)
The SLPP still doesn’t understand the simplest trick in the book of visionary leadership, neither are they aware of what’s involved in the total process of governing a volatile, struggling nation like our own. Here’s the thing that incompetent people like JJ Saffa, Prezo and many of their cronies are rarely able to understand, and grasp a hold of: these dullards see no benefit whatsoever to be derived from engaging in constructive peaceful dialogue that is bound to enhance mutual respect, friendship and understanding – in this they are as blind as bat lost in a vast forest at the break of early dawn.
For sure, Alpha Kanu and Sylvia Blyden are now damaged goods, they no longer have any credibility in Sierra Leone – their reputations are completely destroyed, tarnished like the gleaming white dress of an elegant bride stained with acidic red wine – their shadowy images shattered to pieces by treachery and betrayal like a glass window hit by an thief with a massive stone.
In my personal opinion, I believe that Dr. Alpha Kanu has shown strength and courage in acting as a REAL PATRIOT. Although he was a former government minister and is still a member of the opposition, but decided to work with the new direction government towards the peace and development of our country. He participated in the Bintumani 3 peace process amid lots of outcry from the APC party, and he is currently collaborating with the government in the fight against Covid 19.
Although I am not a lawyer but I believe that he made a PLEA BARGAIN with the government by honestly disclosing his assets, and probably gave credible information about the lifetime chairman of the APC which helped reduce the workload of the investigators in the commission of inquiry. He was famously referred to as “The Apprentice” but his boss finally betrayed him by choosing the less charismatic Dr. Samura Kamara as his possible successor. Whatever deal he made is justifiable because In politics , “THERE ARE NO PERMANENT FRIENDS OR ENEMIES, JUST PERMANENT INTERESTS”.
Bottom line, Mr Alpha Kanu was bamboozled into an unknown territory that has made him the worst politician in Sierra Leone’s history. Besides that, he can still be invited by the ACC and prosecuted to account for the millions of leones squandered under his watch whilst he was minister. The Bio SLPP kakistocracy promised to stamp out corruption in our society. But now, they are dining with the most corrupt politician in our country’s history in my view. This just tells you how corrupt members and sympathisers of the Bio SLPP kakistocracy are. Birds of the same feather flock together. Your thoughts Mr Alusine Fallay and may God bless you.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. End off. President Bio is saying his government have spent his first two years investigating former regime officials. And he don’t want to spend the next three years investigating past officials. Too late I will say. Just get on with it and see where it takes us. Soon you will start investigating your corrupt ministers. Which will take you another two years to complete. Then one year of your remaining time in office to dispose or hide your own personal wealth you’ve amassed while in office. We suspected you all along that what preoccupied your mind instead of leaving corruption investigation with the ACC.
This president seemed to know all the problems of our country. When it comes to the solutions, he seemed to be sending mixed messages. By the looks of it, it all depends who his audience is. If we have learnt anything from this report, we as a nation have to be honest with ourselves, this is not the ideal way to run a country. Before, we used to hear about corruption by government officials . The report has given us an insight to the murky world of corruption. Our institution are weak because there is no accountability. Government officials responsible for implementing projects for the development of our country, are accountable to no one but themselves.
As we now know government tenders and procurement are the weakest link in the chain of accountability. Which in turn create another avenue of corruption called delivery of services. Before you know it we’ve reached a dead end with nowhere to go. Then you get people like Bio who come along dressed up like angels, in fact they are wolves in a sheep skin, making all sorts of promises, that they will take us to the promise land, in fact he is taken us as a nation to the slaughter house. Beware of false prophets, that quote from the Bible have never been so relevant to today’s Sierra Leone. May God bless Sierra Leone.
The main culprit in all this is Ernest Bai Koroma who was at the head of affairs as President. If any head deserve to roll, it should be his.
Folks, as much as most of us welcome the seemingly uncompromising stance being postulated by the Bio regime against former regime corrupt officials, a thorough reflection and hindsight will eventually reveal a flawed approach which in many respects undermine the meticulousness nature needed in the fight against corruption. With no denial of these officials being guilty of corrupt practices, the white papers simply delineates their implications being the acquisition of properties worth billions beyond their expected tenure official financial earnings. In addition, most of the individuals that were demanded to pay back monies are simply asked to do so not because they may have personally spent all the missing funds, but rather because they happen to be in leadership when those monies get misappropriated.
Simply put, former regime officials are now being coerced to refund millions of dollars that get missing in various MDAs tied to their leaderships, with the yearly audit report, which successive parliaments have always failed to implement, being the blueprint upon which these missing monies were retracted. Left alone, current and future government officials will be liable to the same standards being subjected to former APC officials. This clearly set the stage for instability, and political retributions — a recipe for chaos.
On the aspect of outright properties impoundment with a fair legal process, current and future government officials will simply employ more clandestine approach in safeguarding their loots. Knowing fully well that ‘the government of the day’ will never investigate their own corrupt officials, unpatriotic individuals will opt out of building mansions and acquiring properties locally, rather, they could simply stack their loots in foreign nations while maintaining a low profile in their home country. Already there are rumours of the first lady investing massively in the Gambia, how exactly will a next regime confiscated such investments? I definitely foresee more harm than good with such an ignorant and politically motivated approach.
Shameful, disgraceful and disgusting stuff. Salone politics at its best indeed. That is why it is very important for the APC to come together, reconcile and put all the odds behind them, to give us a leader that will lead the entire country to victory in 2023. Mr Alpha Kanu should not be celebrating anything if he is smart enough. He is not out of the woods yet. He has a corruption cloud hanging over his head.
He should know that corruption is a complex and tedious task for the Bio SLPP kakistocracy supporters but very easy for opposition party members and things fall apart cross the carpet new Bio kakistocracy sympathisers like Mr Alpha Kanu. God bless Mr Abdul Rashid Thomas for his effort in letting us know the truth behind every issue in our beloved Sierra Leone. God bless Young4na for his straight talk. TBC.
This is really surprising for Alpha Kanu not be in that list, they pick on the people they want to hurt.
Yes, Alpha Kanu being the errand boy of the current SLPP regime against the opposition APC, has been given a slap on the wrist while every other former cabinet member faces crucifixion. He even gets to keep his multi-million dollar mansion depicted on this article plus receiving additional backroom packages to build more mansions or refurnish his current ones. Salone politics at its BEST!!!