By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has indicted Alpha Osman Timbo, former Minster of Labour and Social Security. Timbo, who is also former Minister of Basic Education, was charged alongside four others on a total 15 count charges of corruption, relating to alleged misappropriation of rice donated to the Free Quality Education programme.
The Chinese government had donated the rice - 5000 bags - to the government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Agriculture and later transferred to the Education.
ACC Commissioner, Francis Ben Keifala, made the charges public at a press conference on Tuesday. He said investigators had gone across the country to follow the trail of the rice and conducted a thorough investigation.
The scandal first broke out on January 10th when Timbo and his deputy, Emily Gogra, were both sacked by the President over the issue.
On Tuesday, ACC said Timbo was indicted because of his role as the former Minister of Education. They added that their investigation showed that the rice never reached most schools, with teachers, parliamentarians and other local authorities embezzling what was meant for children to eat in schools.
Whiles reading the charges, Keifala said: “Between October 2019 and December 2019, Alpha Osman Timbo in his then capacity as Minister MBSSE, Emily Kadiatu Gogra, as Deputy Minister MBSSE and Charles Tom Kamanda, as Permanent Secretary at MBSSE, misappropriated public property to wit: 49, 000 bags of 50Kg rice, meant for the school feeding program. All three of them, face jointly one counts of Misappropriation of public property, contrary to section 36(1); one count of failure to comply with applicable procedures and guidelines, contrary to section 48(2) b; one count of conspiracy to commit a corruption offence contrary to section 128; and one count of Abuse of Office, contrary to sections 42(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act No.12 of 2008.”
Mamusu Massaquoi, Director of Nutrition for the school feeding program, and Zainab Binta Kamara, a businesswoman, were also among those charged.
Massaquoi was charged on three counts, including misappropriation of public property, and abuse of office.
Kamara was indicted on five counts, including misappropriation of public property and conspiracy to commit a corruption offence.
Timbo becomes the first government minister in the Bio administration to have been indicted the country’s anti-graft body.
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