By Kemo Cham
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says investigations it mounted revealed that Chief Minister Prof. David Francis has nothing to answer for in an alleged bribery.
Prof. Francis became the subject of public discussion for much of Monday and Tuesday after it emerged that he’d ordered the arrest of a journalist who sent him text message on Monday enquiring about the alleged bribery involving US$1.5million.
Salieu Tejan Jalloh, publisher of the Times SL Newspaper, reportedly claimed in a text message he sent to the Chief Minister that representatives of a mining company recently stripped off its operations license had deposited some part of the cash into his account at the Eco-Bank Sierra Leone Limited.
The ACC said Mr Francis contacted the Commission immediately he received the text message from the journalist and that it (ACC) also mounted an investigation to the effect, including ordering both the journalist and the bank to provide information on the issue.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Jalloh refused to comply with the request of the Commission,” ACC said in its statement.
It added that Ecobank did clarify that Prof. Francis did not maintain any account with it and that he had only an Ecobank CashXpress pre-paid card since August 2019, which it had never used.
“The said card, according to Ecobank, denominated only in Leones, can be issued to both Ecobank account holders and non-account holders. The investigations also revealed that since he was issued this card, Professor Francis never loaded the said card with cash; and therefore never used it,” the statement added.
The ACC however said that despite the outcome of its findings, it would expect anyone with evidence to prove otherwise to make it available for further action.
“The Commission wishes to reassure the general public of its determination to continue executing its mandate without fear or favor,” it said.
The incident has generated heated public debate and raised questions about ACC Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala’s ability to fight graft within the administration.
Critics doubted the thoroughness of the investigation the Commission claimed it mounted.
ACC’s PR unit declined to comment when contacted by Politico.
There were also concerns about the action of the Chief Minister in reporting the matter to the police, leading to the arrest and detention of the journalist.
The Office of the Chief Minister has however issued a statement dismissing suggestion that it ordered the journalist’s arrest. The statement said Prof. Francis only reported the matter as a case of extortion and harassment and that he believed that the police must investigation such reports without pressure.
Mr Jalloh, a stanch critic of the ‘New Direction’ government, spent almost 24 hours in detention at the Criminal Investigations Department without any official charge or reason for his arrest.
The umbrella Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), which negotiated his release on bail, on Tuesday condemned the manner in which the police acted in arresting him.
“SLAJ totally condemns the manner in which the Police moved in to arrest and lock up the journalist, who did not publish anything malicious or defamatory other than trying to crosscheck information that he had; which we believe is a standard journalistic practice,” the association said in a statement.
Jalloh claimed that the police officers who arrested him went to his office at Soldier Street, Freetown, on the pretext of wanting to place an advert in his newspaper. He also alleged that he was manhandled in the process of effecting an arrest, according to the SLAJ statement.
Jalloh’s bail condition entails that he reported to the police every two days, SLAJ President, Ahmed Sahid Nasrallah, told Politico. Nasrallah said he understood that the police now intend to charge the journalist for alleged assault against police officers.
“We are particularly concerned that this is coming at a time when the Government has shown great commitment to repeal the obnoxious Criminal Libel Law and promoting media freedom,” the association added in its statement.
In the statement, Nasralla was also quoted saying: “The action by the Sierra Leone Police was absolutely wrong and we totally condemn it. It is time to break this unholy partnership between the police and politicians locking up journalists from time to time using the Criminal Libel Law. The Police must understand that we are law abiding citizens and we are not criminals.”
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