By Marcus Bangura
When President Bio assumed the highest office in May 2018, many Sierra Leoneans were made to believe the days of corruption were over and never again will corruption become business as usual but Sierra Leoneans have been disappointed with the spate of corruption in the country perpetrated by politicians, civil and public servants in high places at the expense of the people of Sierra Leone and the country.
With the Three Commissions of inquiries, Sierra Leoneans thought, that corruption would not resurface again at a high magnitude but with Audit Reports over the years and the 2022 Audit Report, there is no gain saying that corruption is still prevalent in our country, despite the whole talk about the commitment to combat corruption for which, the country has received enviable accolades. One begins to wonder whether the accolades were given for the good work in prosecuting former government officials or to prevent corruption from being business as usual. Through our lens, C4D Media has observed that corruption is still business as usual.
The recent corruption allegation is on the throat of the Clerk of Parliament, Hon Paran Umar Tarawallie, and his wife Abibatu Paran Tarawallie. According to sources, it has been alleged that the Clerk of Parliament surreptitiously recruited his wife as a Human Resource Officer and paid her monthly salary, even though she never took up office as Human Resource Manager. The underhanded salary scheme orchestrated by the Clerk of Parliament was exposed when he went berserk and sacked over one hundred staff just like that. Public outcry provoked the establishment of an investigation to look into the matter.
The Parliamentary Commission set up a Committee to investigate the sacking of over one hundred staff. In the investigation that ensued, it was found that the Clerk of Parliament who sacked over one hundred people had his wife, who is not a staff of the House of Parliament receiving salary. The secret discovered was kept in the dark for a while but reached the ACC. According to sources, C4D gathered about four days ago, the Clerk of Parliament, Hon Paran Tarawally, and his wife Abibatu Paran Tarawally were invited by the ACC for interrogation for the mischievous conduct; as alleged. C4D Media sources say Hon. Paran Tarawally, and his wife, Abibatu Paran Tarawally were both granted bail, after consenting to pay the said amount. According to Freetown stories by Lamrana Amadu Bah: ‘’the Commission confirmed that they have recovered about ninety percent of the money from her so far as they continue with their investigations’’
Abibatu Paran Tarawally who had been allegedly recruited by her husband never showed up for work but had been receiving a gross salary of Le31,735,839 (Old Leone) with allowances covering medical, rent, and utility.
It would be recalled that earlier this month of the new year, Hon Paran Umar Tarawally issued a public notice asserting for an investigation Committee to clarify whether his wife’s name is on the payroll. The Public Notice was issued on 5th January 2024.
By and large, corruption is still prevalent in our society, politicians and civil servants alike, stopping at nothing to siphon state resources for their aggrandizement at the detriment of the state and generations yet unborn.
Mindful of how cancerous corruption is, President Bio made us believe the days of corruption are over. He took staunch actions to nip it in the bud for which he was celebrated far and wide attracting attention in the international community, regional level, and local level for departing from the old ways of doing things and turning to a new page with a new direction of hope, transformation for a better country.
To combat corruption, the President fired Ade Macauley, the Anti-Corruption Commission Boss, and appointed Francis Ben Kaifala, as the new ACC boss. Upon his appointment, he assured Sierra Leoneans he was going to embrace the fight in such a way that graft would become an unattractive enterprise, but has it been so? people asked. The Audit Reports 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 are strong revelations that corruption still thrives with MDAs not accounting for billions of Leones causing huge losses for the government.
Angry Ben Kaifala, just after the release of the 2021 report, convened a Press Conference inviting the media and CSOs, where he again committed himself to bring to book squanderers of the public purse, with emphasis on the huge amount of dollars to be accounted for by the country’s Diplomatic Missions. Unfortunately, over the years, there has been no evidence of where suspects have been locked up in jail for such crimes. There have been convictions, and the convicts ordered to refund the stolen monies, but no one has been sentenced to any prison term. Interestingly, when a man steals 3 million Leones, after trial and being found guilty, he is then sentenced to prison term.
It would be recalled that in 2019, the Anti-Corruption Commission amended the 2008 Anti-Corruption Act, bringing into being the Anti-Corruption (Amendment Act) of 2019. The Amendment Act was colourfully popularized by the Commission as a lethal weapon to kill the cancerous disease of corruption which has eaten the fabric of society reported by Audit Service Sierra Leone, after the 2019 Anti-Corruption Amendment Act, there have been reported cases of misappropriation of funds in MDA’s and to date the menace continues unabated.
Despite, the Report, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the government’s favourable ratings in the fight against corruption, unfortunately, this menace seems to be making headlines in local tabloids, courtesy of the Audit Reports produced by the country’s accountability institution, Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL). Year in and year out, the Audit Reports have made startling revelations of huge amounts of money unaccounted for, and the disheartening thing is that the figures keep rising every year from the last. The ACC Boss has on several occasions delivered huge amounts of cash in the form of cheques to President Bio in respect of recovered funds from the Audit Reports’ findings, as well as from the findings of the COI.
Irrespective of the development, little has been the effect of such ventures in curbing corruption in MDAs. It is very clear that corruption stifles the progress of the nation, as well as creates hardship in the country, as funds to alleviate the suffering of the masses are being siphoned into private accounts by unscrupulous people. The most disheartening part of this whole affair is that people take sides on political lines, putting up arguments over who stole more than the other between the SLPP and the APC. Arguments abound on social media portray people giving legitimacy to graft, alluding that one party stole less than the other, rather than abhor the evil that is being done to the lives of ordinary citizens, who simply put their trust in politicians to change their lives through the social contract entered between them and the governments. Since independence, the lives of Sierra Leoneans have been deplorable with poverty and a lack of basic social amenities due to the corrupt practices of politicians.
It is therefore very clear that corruption stifles the progress of the nation, as well as creates hardship in the country, as funds to be used to alleviate the suffering of the masses are being siphoned into private accounts by unscrupulous people. The most disheartening part of this whole affair is that people take sides on political lines, putting up arguments over who stole more than the other between the SLPP and the APC. Arguments abound on social media portray people giving legitimacy to graft, alluding that one party stole less than the other, rather than abhor the evil that is being done to the lives of ordinary citizens, who simply put their trust in politicians to change their lives through the social contract entered between them and the governments, the lives of Sierra Leoneans in recent times, which has been extremely rough and bitter for many but to the international community, everything seems fine. How they derived the conclusion is the big question many Sierra Leoneans are asking. It glimmers and glitters on the outside, but deep on the inside, things are not as they seem. The situation continues to get worse day by day, due to the high cost of living and low salary syndrome, exploitation, maladministration, and siphoning of the national cake for personal use at the expense of the nation. The selfish attitude of politicians and public servants has hit the ground hot and dry and cracking, like the sugar loaf mudslide. Almost everyone is in pain, as prices of basic social amenities continue to hit the rooftop, leaving the common man to wallow in abject poverty.
This is hard to believe, and there is more to it than the eyes can see and for man to believe, especially when the country is rich in mineral resources, scattered far and wide in diamonds, rutile, gold, iron ore, bauxite, chromite, Colten tantalite, columbite, zircon, and platinum Limonite, as well as promising petroleum and energy potentials.
Mining is the best prospect industry sector in the country, but what benefits has the continued exploration and mining helped Sierra Leone and its people, absolutely nothing, but continued poverty and frustration, irrespective of the fact that these resources are in high demand in the global market.
However, with these God-given natural endowments, Sierra Leoneans continue to suffer, as if they are in hellfire, and our political leaders are contributing very little to salvage the situation of the people, but are instead diverting what was meant for the people to personal aggrandizement. Our political leaders sometimes go berserk, drunk with political power, making themselves masters over the people, instead of being servants of the people and fulfilling the promises they made to them during their political campaigns, they rather tend to use them as a means to achieve their ends.
This is the spell Sierra Leoneans have been subjected to, and it is heart-rending and pains-taking. What stands out clearly as crystal clear is the high cost of living and low pay salary syndrome in the country. It is no secret that the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed to the extent that it is grossly affecting people who receive a low monthly salary. The soaring cost of food, energy, water supply, housing, and mobile tariffs do not match the monthly salary paid to low-income earners and imagine what the common people man is going through, especially those who are not working and have no source of livelihood. The unprecedented price surges of goods and services have made food that was attained yesterday could not be attained today. Sierra Leoneans are also caught in the woes of inflation and as inflation raises prices, the purchasing power of Sierra Leoneans is lowered and at the same time lowers the values of pensions, savings, and treasury notes among others.
All of these politicians are still sucking the blood of ordinary Sierra Leoneans by diverting state funds for their personal use through corruption which still thrives in the country. This apparent negative attitude speaks volumes of such individuals; and as it is, corruption is no corruption; unless it is against rival political interests.
As stated, the Auditor General of Audit Service Sierra Leone is: “the guardian of the public purse and Sierra Leone’s economic security. In exercising our legitimate authority as the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), and acting in a professional, ethical, and transparent manner, we audit and report on the stewardship provided by the government over money received – whether from taxpayers, donors, or others – and related expenditure from these funds”.
The ASSL does not have prosecutorial powers, its function is to audit and present a report, including recommendations, but both the Parliamentary Accounts Committee and the ACC have the power to bring the culprits to book. Once culprits are not brought to book with the measure that they deserve, the fight against corruption will continue to be a business as usual and more of a chance than a safe bet.
