March 22, 2017 BY: Alimamy Lahai Kamara
Thirty-five ministries, departments, and agencies including the Sierra Leone Police, and Sierra Leone Correctional Service have renewed commitment in tackling bribery in Bo District following PNB reports that the District is reporting high incidences of bribery. At an MDA partnership meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture compound in Bo, institutions pledged to cooperate with the Anti-Corruption Commission to address bribery and other forms of corruption malpractices.
ACC Regional Manager South, Samuel Marah, said the meeting is timely to provide status report on the six months pilot phase of the PNB ending this March. He said partners need to know to continue to take action to tackle the bane while the project is being rolled out. “Partners need to know where we were, where we are, and where we are heading to with regards the PNB campaign,” Samuel Marah added.
Mr. Marah said every institution has a role to play in the PNB. Ministries of agriculture, sports, Lands, Mines, Sierra Leone Roads Authority, Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority, National Commission for Social Action, Immigration, and National Revenue Authority – all have increased responsibility to institute administrative measures intolerant to bribery and corruption. Heads of MDAs, who attended the meeting, are expected to sensitize their staff on the PNB especially on how to make reports on their experiences relating to bribery.
Bribery continues to pose serious problems in Sierra Leone, undermining the rule of law, disrupting trade and investment, hindering quality education, hampering health service delivery, and forestalling electricity supply. To tackle this problem requires a dedicated partnership and collaboration among institutions managing government finances, administering and enforcing the law, generating revenue, and providing these essential social services. According to the ACC Regional Manager, institutions must share intelligence, pool resources, develop and institute accountability and transparency mechanism, and design and implement policies regulating behavior in the workplace in order to make gains in sector growth, hence in national development.
District Medical Officer, Dr. A.S Turay, who chaired the meeting, said the prosperity of Sierra Leone lies in her own hands. This means sectors have to stay focused in providing basic services touching on the livelihood of the common man. Heads of institutions have to be patriotic and genuine to ensure health services administered, electricity supplied, water distributed, education provided, agriculture produced, and security delivered. According to Dr. Turay, Sierra Leone will grab the many opportunities on the path towards prosperity when the fundamental stumbling block of bribery is tackled and addressed.
Retired Brigadier Daniel Sesay from Bo District Delivery Team noted that institutions are delivering on the President’s Recovery Priorities. In spite of teething challenges, agricultural feeder roads and bridges are being constructed linking farming communities; SALWACO has commenced connection and distribution of water; school feeding programme is on course and Integrity Management Committees in the ministries are getting ready to monitor public exams and enrolment; PNB is gaining wide acceptance. EDSA and EGTC are delivering on electricity; distribution of anti-malaria drugs has begun to PHUs where bribery complaints are on the increase; and the SLP has demolished 9 checkpoints across the District to prevent bribery in the traffic.
It is evident that sustaining these achievements requires MDAs to strengthen their partnership with the ACC and renew commitment in tackling bribery through the PNB campaign.