By Mohamed Fofanah.
The Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) yesterday engaged the Anti-Corruption Commission on what they referred to as emerging issues relating to the Commission’s mandate, while accusing the latter of placing more focus on past government officials and less on current ones in its fight against corruption, and the need to improve public accountability for the effective management of public funds and resources.
Responding to the concerns raised by political parties’ representatives at its Gloucester Street headquarters in Freetown on Tuesday, the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Francis Ben Kaifala conceded that although the Commission’s investigation into past officials outweighs those of the present regime due to the number of years spent in office, he said that no one individual has been unfairly treated during the course of their investigations.
However, Ben Kaifala accused political parties of not supporting, by any means, the national fight to overcome the systemic corruption in the country, saying many of them have failed to engage the ACC to discuss issues relating to the fight against graft.
He assured them of the Commission’s willingness to place fairness at the centre of its work, saying he has done more consultation in the fight against corruption, more than any other tenure before him. He announced that his leadership has taken the fight to places where it had never been before, to engage citizens and raise awareness about the fight.
He added that statistics show that they are doing more in the fight against graft, prosecuting officials in the present government, although he did not reveal further details about the statistics. He highlighted some high-profile cases involving some high-profile officials in the current government such as Alpha Timbo and Dr. Sarah Bendu who were tried for corruption.
Meanwhile, he challenged representatives of these parties to advance evidences of misappropriation of public funds or any other forms of corruption against current public officials, saying that they will go after them if they prove the evidences beyond all reasonable doubts.
