Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission
The Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission (ACC-SL) commonly known as ACC is an independent agency of the Sierra Leone
The ACC was established by the Anti-Corruption Act passed by the
Formation
The ACC was established following the 1990s civil war to investigate rampant corruption in public agencies, then beginning to receive renewed foreign investment. The 2000 Anti-Corruption Act established the ACC as an independent commission to investigate government corruption. The ACC was partially funded and staffed by foreign (mostly British) experts, although in 2007 the British government withdrew support claiming the ACC were not given broad enough powers.[3]
Its first major action was to order the arrest of Sierra Leone's Minister of Transport and Communications Momoh Pujeh and his wife for involvement in the illegal diamond trade which funded much of the Civil War.[4] Corruption is seen as a generalised problem of huge proportions in Sierra Leone, and a contributing factor to the outbreak and continuation of the bloody civil war which destroyed the nation.[5] As late as 2007, the government itself admitted that entire ministries failed to produce any work, as their entire budgets were being diverted through corruption.[6] A BBC journalist interviewed the Foreign Minister in 2007 and found that her office toilets were never connected to water sources as construction contractors failed to carry out jobs for which they were paid.[7]
The hitherto accusation against the ACC for not being committed to the fight against corruption has changed with the change in government in 2018. With a new commitment from President Julius Maada Bio, considerable efforts have been made aimed at corruption control and the country has repositioned itself to more robustly deal with corruption.[8] One foreign commentator accused the pre-2004 ACC in a World Bank study of being a "Phoney" reform organisation, created to "appease foreign donors" but not effectively fight government corruption. This is no longer the case with the commission now pursuing cases involving past and present government officials with no favoritism or sacred cows.[9]
Reforms
In November 2005, ACC head Valentine Collier was himself sacked, accused of involvement in corruption,[10][11] although his defenders argue he was sacrificed by the Sierra Leone parliament to appease the British government's Department for International Development (DFID), the ACC's primary funder.[12]
In 2005, its power to prosecute was removed from the office of the Sierra Leone Attorney General, and given to an independent three person body.
In early 2008, the commission's powers were again amended to give it direct arrest and prosecutorial powers
The current head of the ACC is Francis Ben Kaifala.[18]
References
- ^ "New ACC boss takes oath at State House". The Patriotic Vanguard. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ SL Crime-buster wants clout Archived 7 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Reuters/News24 (SA) 08/12/2007
- ^ Sierra Leone minister arrested. BBC. 1 November 2001
- ^ Sierra Leone still blighted by war. Joseph Winter, BBC. 17 October 2005.
- ^ S Leone 'riddled with corruption'. Mark Doyle, BBC. 14 November 2007.
- ^ Can S Leone flush away corruption. Mark Doyle, BBC. 23 January 2009.
- ^ a b Liliane Bitong Ambassa/IRIN. 16 December 2005 (IRIN)
- ISBN 978-0-8213-6000-2
- ^ Donors pledge to rebuild S Leone. BBC. 1 December 2005.
- ^ Mr. President, just for the sake of integrity. John Baimba Sesay Awoko (Freetown). 30 July 2008
- ^ Let the dishonourable members exit. Editorial The Christian Monitor (Freetown) Monday, 9 April 2007
- ^ a b Anti-Corruption Commission arrests 12 Government Officials. Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme. 8 Mar 2008
- ^ S Leone president declares assets. BBC. 1 September 2008.
- ^ a b Sierra Leone police detain ex-ombudsman. Reuters/IOL (SA). 18 April 2008
- ^ Sierra Leone Sacks Anti-Corruption Chief[permanent dead link]. Kari Barber. VOA News. 24 October 2007
- ^ "Abdul Tejan-Cole | Open Society Foundations (OSF)". Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- ^ "::: Welcome to ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION :::". Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.