Rev. Bob Tyjan Kandeh, ACC Manager, Kono
By Septimus Senessie in Kono
Residents of Kono, east of the country, have accused the sub-regional manager of the anti-corruption commission, ACC, of “naked corruption and bribery” in the diamond rich eastern district.
It followed the donation saga that allegedly implicated chairman of the district Ebola taskforce and chairman of the Kono district council, Councillor Aiah Abdulraman Koninga, who said the commission was aware.
He told journalists at a press conference in Koidu town and on Citizen Radio in Kono that “one of the beneficiaries of the 600 bags of the World Food Programme, WFP, Ebola rice and bulgur was the Anti-Corruption Commission in the district.”
The ACC manager, Rev. Bob Tyjan Kandeh, accepted that they received two bags of the WFP Ebola rice from the district taskforce before the three days’ Ebola lockdown in the country.
He said they had to accept the accepted the gift because “We needed evidence to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the Ebola donations were misused by the taskforce.”
Accusations then ensued and members of the public refusing to believe the explanations by the commission and some alleging that they “accepted and received bribery secretly” from the district Ebola taskforce.
In a meeting organised by a civil society group, Leadership Efficiency and Advocacy for Development (LEAD) Sierra Leone, following the WFP Ebola rice saga at their Kainkordu Road office in Koidu, project officer, Tamba Senessie, condemned the ACC for allegedly “receiving and accepting” two bags of WFP Ebola food donation meant for the less privileged during the lockdown period.
He said the Commission’s Act of 2008 made it clear that “the giver of bribe is as corrupt as the receiver and they carry equal punishment,” adding that, because the ACC received and accepted the gift from the taskforce even when it knew it was wrong, “means the commission too is guilty of corruption.”
The project officer also said that the sub-regional manager of ACC in Kono district had told them in an earlier engagement that they accepted the gesture to prove that the Ebola donations reached the intended beneficiaries.
Senessie told journalists that that was not enough a point to convince them. “That is not enough evidence to convince the general public on the secret acceptance of the gift without making it known to the public until after the media alarmed the alleged misused of the WFP Ebola donation”, he said.
He therefore called for an independent investigation into the Ebola donations in the district to unearth the true story.
Anthony Sam, also known as Triple Tee and very popular for sending short messages on many radio programmes, said the ACC’s direct involvement into the activities of district taskforce on Ebola was largely responsible for the alleged misused of Ebola donations in the district. He added that the Commission at that level was “taking everything for granted,” hoping that the taskforce “will not be questioned for accountability because the ACC itself is with them”.
In a press conference organised by ACC at their Kanawa Street office in Koidu in response to the public outcry, Rev. Kandeh said that on the very day they received the gift from the taskforce he alerted their head office in Freetown.
(C) Politico 07/10/14
