Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 January 2020:
Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday, 13th January 2020, charged Dr. Peter Belmoh Samai, a Medical Doctor working at the Bo Government Hospital, with three counts of corruption offences, after he allegedly stole electricity generators meant to provide power for the hospital.
According to the ACC, Dr Samai misappropriated public property, contrary to section 36(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act; unlawfully disposed of public property, contrary to section 48(1)(b) of the Anti-Corruption Act ; and abused his office, contrary to section 42(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act.
The ACC said that “between the 23rd February 2017 and 31st August 2019, Dr. Samai, being a Medical Doctor at the Government Hospital in Bo, conferred an advantage on himself by the unlawful disposal of one 25ES 20 KVA generator from the Bo Government hospital for use in his private premises, while the hospital continued to experience challenges with electricity supply”.
“Our investigations confirm that as medical doctor, he instructed the removal and transfer of the generator from one of the wards and the generator was never returned. The Commission later found a generator of the similar description in his home albeit newly sprayed from green to Yellow.
“He instructed one Muctaru Monrovia, an electrician at the said hospital, to disconnect the aforementioned generator and remove it from the said premise (the hospital). When search was carried out at the residence of Dr. Samai, two generators were found for which he failed to produce receipts.
“It has also been discovered that Dr. Samai, being a Public Officer, failed to declare his assets and liabilities for the period 2018 and 2019, as is provided for in section 119 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008.
Dr. Samai is expected to make his first appearance at the High Court of Sierra Leone in Bo, tomorrow 16th January 2020.
In another development , the ACC yesterday announced that the two government ministers, along with two senior public officials sacked by president Julius Maada Bio last weekend, have been granted bail.
Their sacking came, following an investigation by the ACC into the disappearance of 50,000 (Fifty Thousand) bags of rice donated to Sierra Leone by the Chinese government to help towards the government’s school feeding programme. The ACC investigations continue. (Photo: Alpha Timbo seen here on the right with Maada Bio in London in 2014).
Minister of Labour – Alpha Timbo – who was formerly minister of basic education, the deputy minister of basic education and two other senior officials at the basic education ministry, were all relieved of their posts.
Another person who was allegedly caught re-bagging 5,000 bags of the donated Chinese rice at a store in Waterloo, Freetown for sale to the public, was also granted bail.
Bail was set at Le500 million each by the ACC.
Today, there are unconfirmed reports that president Bio may soon relieve other senior officials in his government, as the investigations into the Chinagate rice scandal widen.
I believe Mr Timbo is a man of integrity since 1990 to 2020.
I personally believe that Mr. Alpha Timbo will be exonerated after the final conclusion of the investigation because he is a man of integrity who was over burdened with the tasks of not only establishing the Free quality education but also to reign down on defaulters trying to destroy the integrity of our examinations through cheating. The school feeding program is a continuation from the previous APC government and I believe that the old Rice distribution mechanism is still in place and hopefully will be dismantled after this discovery by the ACC.
Let’s continue to pray for our ACC boss because some evil forces are bent on destroying his image which he has earned in less than 2 years, because as far as this destructive forces are concerned, Sierra Leone is not good enough to be considered as the LEAST CORRUPT COUNTRY in our region under the leadership of the SLPP.
The ACC is useless, always going after the weaker options. For it to be a success, it has to be neutral and fair, and go after everyone caught in foul play not just the small timer with little or no power. I am sure if you look into the SLPP hierarchy, you’ll find some of the top officials are involved in corruption.
Indeed, corruption is pop culture in Sierra Leone. Dommage!!
Blip, blip, baby steps. Kudos to the ACC boss, however, the fight against corruptions must be seen fair and inclusive. No political influence or preservation of a certain group of citizens must be encouraged, else, the whole exercise will be deemed a charade.