Sierra Leone has grappled with acts of corruption since its independence from the colonial rule of the British in 1961.
During and after the decade of rebel armed conflict between 1991 and 2002, Sierra Leone continued to face rigorous challenges of weak
governance, widespread poverty, and systemic corruption.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was established by the Anti-Corruption Act
of 2000 under the leadership of the former President of Sierra Leone, the late Ahmad
Tejan Kabbah.
Since the inception of the ACC on the shores of Sierra Leone, the current head of the
ACC, Francis Ben Kaifala, has rigorously waged warfare on the act of corruption using
ballistic scorpion tactics.
Francis, a young and accomplished lawyer, was unanimously approved by Parliament
at his first appearance in the well of the Sierra Leone House of Parliament in 2018 after
his appointment by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio.
Mr. Kaifala’s gigantic and robust battle on the act of corruption without discrimination
made him attain a remarkable success that overwhelmingly simulated the attention of
the world. The fight against the act of corruption has enabled the Commission to recover over billions of leones, which was used to build the country’s first modern diagnostic center.
Our investigation has revealed that the hard work, achievements, and admirable recognition of Sierra Leone as one of the leading countries in the fight against corruption under the leadership of Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala have been
considered and described as a major player, a true avant-garde. This is why it is more
than imperative to speak sufficiently about the work Commissioner France Ben Kaifala
has done and to publicize his dynamic efforts to achieve current results in the fight
against corruption in Sierra Leone.
Critically, Commissioner Kaifala has strategically and significantly played a key role
in mitigating the act of corruption in Sierra Leone.
The strategy of Commissioner Kaifala includes, but is not limited to, increasing public knowledge and understanding about ACC and promoting the merits of transparency and accountability, including and not limited to the management of state resources and infrastructures.
Moreover, the hard work of the current staff and volunteers of the Anti-Corruption Commission, including the impartial management of the day-to-day work and the conviction of public officials irrespective of their political status have strengthened the population’s confidence in the ACC’s ability to effectively fight corruption.
Furthermore, Commissioner Kaifala has also worked on legislative and political
reforms, which enabled Sierra Leone to adopt both preventive and repressive laws
against corruption, laws on asset disclosure, public procurement, and the protection of
whistleblowers.
All of these ultimately created a more transparent and accountable environment, which
makes it difficult for corruption to flourish in Sierra Leone today.
In his own words, Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala said, “The fight against corruption must be a collective effort, and the best time to fight corruption is now.”
This has and will continue to make Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala one of the global fighters against corruption.
Lokombe Nkalulu
Editor-in-chief of Afric’Europe magazine
