Barely two months after been sworn in by President Bio as the country’s new Anti-Corruption Commission boss, duty-conscious Francis Ben Kaifala has succeeded in recovering over a million dollars and millions of Leones from corrupt public officials of former President Koroma led APC regime that had been arrested by the ACC.

Under the previous Koroma administration, Sierra Leone was rated one of the most corrupt nations on the African continent, with an estimated 70% of public funds misappropriated by public officials.
With the SLPP government of President Julius Maada Bio set to instill fiscal discipline, accountability, public sector reform, and above all fight against corruption, the determined ACC Commissioner, in his unstoppable fight against corruption took bold steps to recover funds owed to the state by defaulters arrested by the Commission for corruption.

The Commission’s investigation into widespread corruption under the President Koroma’s regime that took the country’s economy to the brink of collapse saw the arrest and detention of former ministers, vice president, Victor Bockarie Foh, the commissioner, National Revenue Authority and other government officials for corruption on a grand scale.

Some of these suspects while in custody have arranged to pay back stolen public funds as provided for in the Commission’s Act Former directors of the country’s National Social Security Trust – Edmond Koroma, Mahmoud Idris, Gibril Saccoh and Ibrahim Bah, agreed an out of court settlement with the previous ACC Commissioner – Joseph Kamara, to repay Le500 million each to the state for the shady Nassit ferry deal. But no serious effort was made to enforce the agreement.

The new Commissioner, Kaifala, under the New Direction rearrested Edmond Koroma and Mahmoud Idris and a fresh monthly payment plan agreed, which will see them pay the first installment sum of Le50Million each month.

Similarly, Sahr Ngegba, the Transport and Port Management Systems (TPMS) owes the government $1.3 million. The ACC commissioner promised to continue his investigations into the port corruption saga. Before his release on bail after spending days in custody at the ACC, plans were at the finishing stages that Ngegba returns $500,000 into the Consolidated Fund by August 3rd 2018, through an installment payment of $100,000 each month for the next eight months.

The ACC is also investigating the former Youth Minister for funds amounting to Le 29 billion allocated to the Ministry by the Road Maintenance Fund for the Youth in Drainage Project. He is also accused of misappropriating Le1.5 billion meant for the Youth farm project. The former minister, permanent secretary and others were detained by the ACC. He was later released on bail set at Le1billion.

In another case of corruption at the Ministry of Agriculture amounting to Le 19 million, the new ACC boss has recovered Le 17 million so far.
It should be noted that the Commissioner has strongly affirmed that, they will probe into past, present and future corruption. Hence, anyone found engaging in such act will definately brought forward to face the commission with the exemption of a sitting President who is immune from prosecution as provided for by the Constitution. “Every other person outside that bracket is under the ACC raider as the commission is poised to ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight against endemic corruption that is consider as a way of life in Sierra Leone” he told BBC.