Commissioner (Anti-Corruption Commission)

What is the role of the ACC?

Our role is to fight corruption, that is our primary mandate but in the process to give comfort to people wanting to do business in Sierra Leone that your investment will be protected. It is key; your investment will be protected. If people do not think there exists The Rule of Law in their country where if there is a financial or business dispute they can have access to legal regress, they will not come. So it is important that we provide that comfort. As part of the mandate that I have, is to look after investors as well. In the sense that if there is corruption on the part of public officials and even to a lesser extends private individuals, we have sections in the Acts which basically deals with impeding investment. What it says is that when an investor comes in and wanting to get licences and clearance, there is unreasonable delay it called impeding investment. There is a presumption that if a licences application is on your desk, a decision should be taken within a month and a decision was not taken, the there is a presumption that you have only delayed because you want someone to give you a bribe. So it is on you now to explain why there is a delay, it called impeding investment. Also, we have abuse of office, solicitation, we have all sort of offences in the Act regarding public officials. But we do not have a dedicated private sector anti-corruption law which I am pushing for now. We have sections in the Acts that deals with private sector to private sector investment. What we have noticed is that, most of the fraud-taking place is between private persons. So now we have an offence called Deceiving Principal, which you can commit in several ways. One, if you give information or document to your principal whom you know the content is not true, which your principal relied to their detriment then you have committed an offence. And presently, I am prosecuting a case in which a private person defrauded an investor in the region of $600,000, and the victim was so impressed with the work we have done. He is now the advocate for the country and the ACC. I am not going to tell you that no one is going to attempt to defraud you but there will be someone there to protect you, because you cannot stop people trying to defraud others and that is the comfort that we wish to give to investors, people wanting to come to Sierra Leone either to do business or even enjoy themselves. We are pretty much ready to fight and we are pushing also for specific private sector Anti-Corruption Laws.

What do you think are the main comparative advantages of your country in the West African Region to attract investment?

Firstly, we have a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere in Sierra Leone and the people are hospitable. Also, we have started to put together the legal infrastructure to welcome people like The Registration of Business Act, basically, which cut down the time you take to register a business from three (3) weeks to three (3) days. Furthermore, we have passed laws where the transfer of shares is also controlled. Before as a foreigner if you want to start a business then you have to go through the central bank to get exchange control commission, because as a foreigner you cannot own shares until the central bank approves it. So with the business start up Act that was abolished whether you are a Sierra Leonean or not it does not matter. Secondly, we have a dedicated fast track commercial court which deals with business disputes and before this business dispute can last for a year or two or more but with the commercial court, business disputes last for only three (3) months which is also an attraction for us. Again, we have for example in the mining industry, which is the biggest industry, we have not just the ministry but we have the National Minerals Agency (NMA) which deals with regulatory issues. So we have complimentary structures now that can deal with your matters on the policies and execution side. We have the infrastructure in place and of course our banking system is pretty efficient now. The movement of capital is predicated on you having a good and smooth banking system. So for me, these are the major areas, the infrastructure and The Rule of Law.

The Ebola outbreak has had tremendous impact on the country in terms of the social and human impact but also on the economy – in your own opinion, what do you think should be done to fully recover from this tragedy?

To send out a message firstly that Ebola is just a disease that is transient and not permanent. Now what we call Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia to many people out there who know very little about these countries the first thing they think about is Ebola. One of the reasons why I think we got hit so badly is because we lacked a proper foundation in these businesses of a local content. When the Ebola breaks, most of the experts left and the economy crippled. Companies shut down production but we have companies mostly involved in foods and drinks productions managed by Sierra Leoneans they continued. They ran their business because the core management staff is local they have nowhere to run to, so for me that is an area where if we have a strong local content within the administration then even if something happens where they are pulling out not because of a risk to the business itself or the risk to the individuals but because they are foreigners they want to go back but if it where Sierra Leoneans they have nowhere to go, they will stay. The company will continue to operate from within but for us to be able to enforce a local content; we have to make sure that we give the necessary training and expertise to our people. This is because we cannot force companies to employ people if they cannot produce or fit the criteria (job description) they are looking for which is for me one area that needs strengthening. Then also we have learnt that we have to strengthening our health system, because if we had a very strong health system we would not have got to the point we got into. It would have been arrested immediately but again I can understand if it were to happen in developed countries they will take their time t o understand how you take precautions. It a learning process I can assure you like The Congo and Uganda where Ebola started within a month it was gone - That because they have the expertise and experience on how to deal with it. If I could remember from the Ebola forest (the village) where the virus started people were basically being shot so they do not transmit the virus to the next person but that is not the case anymore because they have a system in place to tackle it, so that another area we can improve to make sure that what happens do not happen and to improve the economy, it just telling people that Sierra Leone is open for business. Ebola came but it did not take away the talent of the country, it did not take away the natural resources or the beauty of the country  -  For me that should be the consistent message to put out there.

The president outlined a strategy focused on key sectors of the economy- energy, agriculture and fisheries, natural resources (mining, petroleum) and infrastructure - this will pave the way through future international investors. Considering the importance enthusiasm through your country, what do you think are the most attractive now out of all the sectors that is more interesting for investors to come in?

Agriculture, I am someone that basically frowns at the extractive industry because it is a distraction in the sense that it keeps you away from looking at alternatives and for me it pretty lazy. Considering the fact that you are not putting but just yielding what is already there but with agriculture you come in and put and your input determines your output. Whereas the mining industry for me is a luxury, you can prospect to know that there is something down there but it is difficult for you to give certainty of how much is there, so for me agriculture. We used to be a major rice exporter and we want to be return there, if we deal with the agricultural sector and spend at least $180 million a year to import rice, if we can be self sufficient in the production of rice we would have saved ourselves from foreign currency of an obligation of a 180 and the deficit trade will reduce. This will stabilise the currency because if you only export say $200million and your import is about $400million, you will have about $200million deficit where are you going to get that from and that affect the value of your currency. That is why from Le4, 000 since the Ebola to Le7, 500 so these are the issues for me. Also you look at the market you know is invoke, people tend to overlook the telecommunication industry. It obviously based on numbers but you can only get the numbers when you make it cheaper. If you make it cheaper and accessible you have more people and the economies of scale will increase and it is the same with the airline industry. Tourism is an industry and when we think about tourism many people think about international tourism. Local tourism has been over looked but we have beautiful places and we can cater for dual tourism. This does not only involve the hotel industry but also the telecommunication industry, the transportation industry as well.

The corruption index indicates Sierra Leone ranks 119 over 174 countries – what are your plans as the ACC to decrease that number?

Firstly, I will start from the history, in 2008 we were 169 and we moved 39 places a position of 119 and we maintain that position for the past two (2) years. The Millennium Challenge Corporation just came out and the half yearly score is ok. Last year we scored 33%, which was a failure, and we have moved 20% up. This year we past with 53% which is a great lead and what I believe is responsible is the systems in place, the infrastructure and not just the actual figures. Sometimes when you put the infrastructure to fight corruption itself is a success. Also, we have succeeded in pushing prosecutions but lately I have come up with ingenious ways to fight corruption. I have brought in the “pay no bribe” campaign, which is an anonymous online platform, which gives Sierra Leoneans, and people present to report corruption acts faced on daily basis. With the app, you can go on Google play and types “pay no bribe Sierra Leone” it will come up. We targeted the three (3) widely spoken local languages. We target as a pilot face five (5) different sectors, which are health, education, police, energy and water because these are the areas that people assess public service on a daily basis. For example, in education we ask if the bribe is for fees or for you to be admitted in school, or for exams or grades. If you say for exams and grades, you will be asked which area and if you say Western Area it goes to the institution and you will be asked if the bribe was in cash, sexual favour etc. if you say cash, you will be further asked how much you paid and if the victim is a male or female because we want to identify who mostly the victims are. Again, we are sending text messages telling people the services they are seeking, how much they are suppose to pay for example licences, many people do not know how much they are suppose to pay to get a licence. All they know is what the middleman or broker tells them. So we are sending these messages to tell people how much they are suppose to pay and the duration. For me there is nothing like petty corruption, it has to be faced on a head on basis whether it is big or small. Corruption is not just good it a crime against society period, that my definition.

You must have a lot of enemies within the public institutions – what is the perception of the public officials and others?

I am a reserved person even before I became the commissioner, I was a prosecutor so have always kept me to myself but the good will is out there. It is the majority that are suffering from corruption and if the majority sides with me then I should be happy, of course there are few powerful individuals who may not like me, I have taken precautions but it has not got to the stage where I will have to ride in an armed vehicle. I have my close protection so no one slaps me in the street. We are under the office of the president but we are so independent that ones the president has appointed you that the last thing he has to do with you. He cannot control what I do and he has never tried and also I am not answerable to anyone.

I see Sierra Leone is headed to the right direction in other to eradicate corruption within the country – what is your forecast in other to tolerance zero?

My forecast probably is in the next two weeks, I am confident that we will make progress probably ten (10) spaces up.  There is a history of fighting corruption and not having success in one day. I am not going to say we are going to eradicate corruption today or tomorrow but we are making progress and we are on the right track. My ambition is to reduce corruption to a level where it would not be a threat to national development. Obviously it is a threat to FDI, it is also a threat to the peace and when you look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is a system that helps us to look back what caused the war the first place and what took place during the war it was corruption. Corruption was a cause for the war and not only that but a driver for the war in Sierra Leone. The war started because there was massive corruption in the judiciary and other public institutions and people thought that they were tired and coming out. When the war started it was fuelled by corruption because people saw the opportunity to make more money, so for me corruption is a real threat.

What is your biggest ambition for the ACC?

My biggest ambition for the ACC is for it to be an institution that contributes to the on-going transformation of Sierra Leone to a viable state where the country will be economic stable and independent. Where we have a democratic and governance institutions, a stable political and environment, which is what I want for Sierra Leone.

What message do you have for our readers?

If you want to know about Sierra Leone better, come to Sierra Leone.