By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
The Deputy Director, the Prevention Department of the Anti-Corruption Commission, (ACC) Samuel Marrah accused the private sector of being one of the facilitators of graft.
Marah made this claim in an interview with Politico, in which he recalled an engagement the commission had with stakeholders from the private sector that took place in Freetown.
He said as a result of that engagement, the commission is expanding its scope to the private sector in a bid to curb corruption through what he referred to as ‘’a collective approach.’’
‘’The culture of some of these private entities is deeply basically entrenched in corrupt practices, in terms of bidding, procurements, etc.,’’ he added.
He said previously, the commission was only focusing on the public sector or public officers but there is so much to be done with the private sector being that it constitutes a huge portion of our society and ‘’benefits from corruption in the form, of bribe for contracts.’’
Speaking about one of the causes of corruption in the private sector, said companies want to make profits at all costs regardless of how they are amassed, saying those companies ‘’rationalize corruption’’ on the pretext of ‘’other sectors’’ doing the same.
He spoke about the roadmap the commission will be using to engage the private sector to combat corruption.
He said they have identified ways to tackle corruption in the private sector, by reviewing internal structures for the sector to incorporate the ACC’s code of conduct, establish proper corporate governance structure, and map out corruption risks and how to take necessary actions to address those risks.
Marah also spoke of the external measures in fighting against corruption in the private sector that should be employed by interacting with international as well as local public entities.
The collective action means the commission will partner with the regulatory bodies and the private sector in order to advance the ACC initiative, he went on.
“With these, we can’t achieve them without the government regulatory bodies involved,’’ Marah said.
Copyright (2023) Politico (25/08/23)
