By Kemo Cham
In a move to prevent misappropriation of funds meant for the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Sierra Leone has called for transparency in the handling of all public funds acquired in the name of the country.
The ACC in a statement warned that it would prosecute anyone found wanting for the misuse of public funds in relation to the pandemic, and it called on all individuals and institutions involved with the response to make public all monies they received in this regard.
The ACC made the call as it announced the formation of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Response Transparency Task Force, whose main role it said would be to ensure instill “integrity, accountability and transparency” in the utilization and management of funds meant for the Covid-19 response.
“Any complaint of suspected acts of corruption and/or corrupt practices in the Corona Virus Response programmes will be investigated as a matter of priority and urgency under the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as Amended in 2019,” the ACC said in the statement signed by Patrick Sandi, Director of Outreach.
“All National and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are encouraged to make public any moneys, donations and pledges received for and on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone in regard the control and containment of this pandemic,” the statement added.
The Commission went on to encourage the public to make complaint of any suspicious activity.
Many Sierra Leoneans welcomed the move. Some cited the experience in the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic when billions of leones meant for the response to the hemorrhagic viral disease went missing.
The lack of the required resources left healthcare workers poorly protected, thereby contributing to the death of over 200 of them, including 10 doctors. Over 3000 people died in Sierra Leone alone as a result of the epidemic.
That issue is the subject of an ongoing case at the Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, where civil society activists, in conjunction with some survivors of the epidemic, filed a law suit against the Sierra Leone for failing to protect the country from the Ebola virus disease.
Non-Governmental Organizations too, both local and international, were reported to have been involved in corruption during the Ebola fight.
A notable example was the case involving the Sierra Leone Red Cross, which reportedly couldn’t account for about US$2million. That was the subject of an investigation by the ACC.
The recently concluded Commissions of Inquiry set up by President Julius Maada Bio to investigate the administration of former President Ernest Bai Koroma also confirmed the reported misuse of the Ebola funds.
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