By Mabinty M Kamara
3, 500 women in the Kono districts, eastern Sierra Leone, have received each the sum of Le195, 000 as part of the World Bank funded cash transfer for poor and vulnerable people. The programme is under the social safety Net (SSN) initiative which aims at alleviating extreme poverty in poor countries like Sierra Leone.
The SSN, which is also supported by UNICEF and implemented by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), targets more than 3, 000 people are benefiting from it across the country.
Beneficiaries from the projects were from various parts of the Kono districts including Gbense, Tankoro, Lei, Nimiyama, Sandor, Soa, Nimikoro, Mafindor and Toli Chiefdoms.
In order to ensure accountably and transparency in the distribution of the cash to the beneficiaries, the exercise in Kono was monitored by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) sub regional office as part of their mandates to prevents corruption in the implementation of government/ donor funded projects.
ACC staff sensitized the beneficiaries on the importance of the SSN project and how they should utilize the facility accorded them. According to a press statement from the Commission, the beneficiaries were also educated on how to reach the anti-graft agency through phone calls and or in person should there be any suspicion of malpractice during the course of the distribution.
They cautioned beneficiaries and stakeholders not to abuse the process. And they assured that the Commission will continue to monitor the implementation of the SSN Project to ensure transparency and accountability in the whole exercise.
(C) Politico 29/06/16
