The Monitoring and Compliance Unit of the Anti Corruption Commission has presented monitoring reports to stakeholders at the SLTU Hall in Makeni. The reports were on the Ministries of Local Government, Health and Sanitation, Education and Agriculture.
Welcoming participants, the ACC Regional Manager, Patrick Sandi, who chaired the occasion observed that the occasion was significant because the Commission was “making another giant stride in combating graft in the country”.
Sandi assured stakeholders that they would give them an opportunity to make input to the reports. He said that before monitoring, diagnostic studies would have been done on MDAs to identify the shortfalls in their practices, as well as proffer recommendations so as to reduce on the chances for corruption.
Sandi said that those recommendations were to be implemented by MDAs and that sanctions would be invoked for those found wanting as provided for in the ACC Act of 2008. He said government officials should not construe the process of monitoring as an embarrassment to them but rather as something that was in their interest.
Addressing participants, the Chief Administrator of the Makeni City Council, Alhaji Alhaji Bangura said that local councils were an integral part to the development process of Sierra Leone and encouraged all to be “nationalistic so that the country will forge ahead”.
The ACC Deputy Commissioner, Morlai Buya Kamara emphasised that winning the fight against corruption required hard work. He said that the monitoring reports were an indication of progress made by MDAs in implementing the recommendations of the ACC’s systems review reports. He urged stakeholders and officials of the ministries to take the report seriously.
Presenting the report on Local Councils and Agriculture, ACC’s Head of Compliance Unit, Patrick Monrovia said that the exercise was done in 2012 and that some improvements had taken place in the implementation of the recommendations in spite of the gaps that needed to be filled.
ACC’s Monitoring and Compliance Officer, Samson Saidu outlined lateness, absenteeism and the lack of proper financial management by Heads of Schools in the utilization of school fee subsidies. He cautioned that such practices were to be discouraged immediately.
