By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has cleared Fatmata Edna Kargbo, former State Chief Protocol and Ambassador at-large, of suspected corruption offenses.
The ACC's decision came after a long investigation sparked by her testimony in a Nigerian church in 2019.
The investigation was initiated after a huge public outcry of abuse of office and mismanagement of state resources by her after her video testimony in the Synagogue of All Nation Church in Nigeria. The church is owned by popular preacher, Prophet TB Joshua.
The church vehemently defended her during the investigation last year, releasing a 10 minute long video of her contribution to Sierra Leone.
The investigation started in August 2019 and the ACC's report was released on the 3rd of April this year.
The commission stated in its report that it did not find any incriminating evidence against Ms Kargbo. It revealed that she served the government of Sierra Leone as a civil servant for over 20 years and as diplomat for a long time, noting that she could afford to raise a huge sum to build such a house.
"She served on foreign mission to the Gambia from 2007 to 2012 and in Ghana from 2016 to 2018, during which time she was paid in United States Dollars. She later rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary in the Civil Service and was posted to the office of the president as State Chief Protocol (SCOP) and Ambassador –at –large," the report reads.
In the course of the ACC's investigation, it said it obtained the payroll records from the Accountant Generals Department in relation to Kargbo's 20 years of service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It said it found out that her total emolument for the period under review amounted to Le 3.2billion.
“Our findings also reveal that she owns a property situated at No. 5 Josiah Drive Hill Station, which is the same property that was in her asset declaration to the ACC in 2014 as unfinished and she continued declaring same in subsequent years, (though intermittent). This negate allegations that she built the house after her appointment as State Chief of Protocol and Ambassador-at large in 2018," ACC stated, adding:
"The house was in advanced stage of construction as at the time of her said recent appointment; though she continued finishing work on it throughout," the ACC report says.
The Commission went on to say that the property was valued and quantified by two technical personnel from the Ministry of Works and Public Asset working with its investigators. The value of the property was pegged at Le3.2billion.
When the value of the property was deducted from her total emolument for the period under review, there was a surplus of Le77, 936,658.
ACC said Kargbo told them she also did a lot of business, especially during his postings as a diplomat. This, the commission said, covered the over Le77 million shortfall of the value of her house.
The Commission said none of its findings found any wrong doing that it could prosecute her for.
However, the Commission condemned Kargbo's conduct as a public official in displaying her wealth in public.
Kargbo has since been replaced at State House and has been on suspension at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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