By Kemo Cham
Francis Ben Kaifala’s crusade against corruption last week received a shot in the arm with the passing of the amended version of the Anti-Corruption law.
The Anti-Corruption Amendment Act 2019, passed by parliament on Thursday, replaced some sections of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008. Officials of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had said that the amendment would better position the Commission by increasing its powers to fight against graft which campaigners say is at an endemic level in the country. Notably, the amended Act, among others, streamlined the category of public officials covered under the asset declaration law.
Kaifala’s administration had argued that the provision in the repealed Act that required every government official to declare their assets made the work of the Commission unnecessarily cumbersome.
It now targets officials from a particular cadre in the civil and public service.
The amended law also seeks to increase penalties for offences under the Act and it strengthens the witness protection regime.
Commissioner Ben Kaifala hailed the development on social media.
In a tweet following news of the parliamentary approval, he said the law would make corruption expensive henceforth.
“The People's Anti-Corruption Amendment Bill 2019 … fully empowers the ACC to make corruption very expensive and more efficiently confront corruption at all levels; including preventing the signing of contracts that are NOT in the national interest!” he tweeted.
The passing of the law on Thursday 31 October followed a prolonged process that was characterized by partisan political exchanges between the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party and the main opposition All People’s Congress.
© 2019 Politico Online
