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ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION OF SIERRA LEONE

An independent institution established for the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of corruption, corrupt practices and to provide for other related matters. 

Contact us on: +23278832131 or info@anticorruption.gov.sl
Address:  Integrity House, Tower Hill, Freetown Sierra Leone, West Africa.

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22. 22 11. PHOTO GA L LERY Participants at the training making their contributions/comments

23. 23 Participants at the t raining engaged in group work - (third session) Cross section of participants and facilitators pose after the training workshop

1. ANTI - CORRUPTION COMMISSION SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES REVIEW DEPARTMENT POLICY AND ETHICS UNIT 5/10/2018 REPORT ON ETHICS AND INTEGRITY TRAINING FOR MDAs : ( PHASES 1 AND 2)

15. 15 Chief Administrator Farmar (Port Loko District Council) making a statement Patrick George – Head of Policy and Ethics Unit (ACC) presenting on codes of conduct and ethical standards and offences

11. 11 The Deputy Director - Mr. Kargbo explained clearly the differences between the AC Act 2000 and the AC Act 2008, bringing out the lack of prosecutorial powers, the total number of corruption offences and asset declaration that introduced integrity in public bodies as key elements in the 2008 Act . Mr Kargbo concluded his presentation by thoroughly explaining the various offences in the anti - corruption act as well as sanctions. Dep. Director, SPRD ( Alhassan Kargbo) making his presentation

14. 14 Francis Lassayo – Policy and Ethics Officer (ACC) presenting on the Importance of Creating an Ethical Work Environment d. Mr. R aman Tom Farmar - Chief Administrator, Port Loko District Council Chief Administrator Farmar emphasized the importance of curbing corruption; and knowing the offences is a key factor. This he said will bring awareness to the public as well as civil servants on what to do and what not to do in their respective fields of operations. He also encouraged his colleagu es to see the ACC as a partner in the fight and not as an alien and appeal ed that such training programme and other ACC activities to be extended to the council at a regular pace.

6. 6 Mr. Abu Bakarr Kamara – Regional Manager North (ACC) making a statement (b) Samuel Marrah - ACC Southern Region al Manager Mr. Marrah - ACC Regional Manager South, in his statement thanked the audience for the encouraging attendance within a short notice. He explaine d the rationale for the workshop and encouraged parti cipants to actively participate and treat the training with seriousness. He emphasized the importance of the training and told public officials that they should put theories into practice in their various institutions and avoid the use of discretion if the y really want to minimize corruption. Mr. Marrah also added that corruption is an ethical and integrity issue. He said that i n order to address corruption there wa s a need for a concerted effort by individuals to imbibe the culture of integrity, honesty and uprightness and practice it within their various institutions.

19. 19 F F rancis Ben Kaifala – ACC Commissioner : making a statement at the training working Mr. Alhassan Kargbo delivered power point presentation on the history and legal framework on corruption. He explained lengthily on the offence s u nder the 2008 Act and its implications. Head of Policy and Ethics of SPRD, Patrick M. George, spoke on codes of conduct and professional standards for public servants , highlighting some of the codes of ethics that are prevalent in certain institutions. The Consult ant Manager, Ms Magdalene Mensa gave several definitions and types of corruption and corrupt acts and draw the line between morally acceptable conduct and legality . She explained in detail what constitute right and wrong, good and bad, values and morally accepted conduct which she however differ ed from society to society. Group work and presentations als o formed part of the workshop.

3. 3 The ra tionale for the training wa s to allow government officials to familiarize themselves with issues of integrity, ethics and professional behavior in the work place. 2. BACKGROUND Scandals involving public officials have often captured media attention. Most of these scandals could be attributed to the deteriorating ethical behaviors of the public officials who have indulged themselves into all sorts of malpractices. In lieu of the above, there is a genuine concern that public sector institutions should strengthe n ethics, integrity, transparency, accountability and professionalism to protect public resources and enhance public sector performance. It is mostly observed that some institutions, even when they have effective and prominent policies , their operatives s till ignore such policies and regularly exercise discretion. As a consequence, prices are inflated leading to the creation of financial hardship for citizens. Various studies support the view that fall in ethical standards and professionalism has greatly u ndermined integrity and public trust for S tate institutions while compliance with institutional anti - corruption policy by MDAs have been minimal There are different policies that guide the daily processes and operations of institutions. Such policies are set aside to promote efficient and effective service delivery system in government institutions. A lot of poli cy apologists have opined that p olices become obsolete and outdated with time so there is always the need to review and modify them to fit contemp orary needs. Once policies are properly reviewed, and recommendations and directives effectively implemented, issues of ineffectiveness and policy deficiency are bound to become latent factors. Based on the aforementioned, the ACC through its Policy and Ethics Unit, in the Systems and Processes Review Department recently conducted a policy

5. 5 5. STATEMENTS (a) Mr. Abu Bak a r r Kamara - ACC Northern Region al Manager In his sta tement, the ACC, Regional Manager, Mr Kamara introduced the ACC team from Freetown followed by a self introduction by the members present. He ap plauded the audience for the timely response and huge attendance. The ACC Northern Region Manager added that the issues (ethics and integrity) to be discussed are not new or a rocket science. Rather, they are issues that society has been struggling with fo r the past years. He mentioned that the ACC has the mandate to address corruption in Sierra Leone. He continued by stating that all of the programs and training including the Pay N o Bribe is geared towards cracking down on corruption. The training on “Upho lding ethics and integrity in the work place” he said is no exception. Mr. Kamara expressed that at the end of the training much more would have been achieved not just for learning purposes but officials would have imbibed the culture of integrity and put theories into practice which would minimize corruption. He said corruption is an ethical issue and therefore a serious problem in the country. He said the ACC cannot handle corruption unilaterally; it should be a collective effort to address corruption in our various offices and enviro nment. The ACC Regional M anager admonished all participants to treat the training with utmost seriousness because all present have a role to play in governance.

7. 7 Mr. Marrah concluded by encouraging public officials to allow policies to play a central role and precedes their daily transactions. Mr. Samuel Marah - Regional Manager South maki ng a statement (c) Kei fala Koi - ACC Eastern Region al Manager. In his opening statement, Mr. Koi - ACC Eastern Regional Manager gave the welcome note to the participants and applauded them for their response in attending the workshop. He spoke on the partnersh ip between the ACC and its partners in the fight against graft, in the sense that the ACC takes the lead and embraces other i nstitutions to fight this menace. He went on to state that such a workshop could n o t have come at a better time than this, in that Ethics and Integrity are two essential components that strengthen public and civil servants in the discharge of their duties. Mr. Koi w ent further to explain the importance of Ethics and Integrity , as those elements form the human aspect in the fight which must be embedded in you to act responsibly. He encouraged the participants to be focus ed and make the

10. 10 of whistleblowers in the fight against graft. The presentation was climax ed with an exercise o n ethical dilemma to test the ability of the parti cipants . Musa Kanteh, Senior Policy and Ethics officer making his presentation (b) Mr . Alhassan Kargbo; Dep uty Dir ector ; Systems and Processes Review Depart ment Topic: “Offences in the Anti - Corruption Act 2008” Presenti ng on the offences of the Anti - Corruption Act 2008, Mr. Kargbo started by giving a global overview on the fight against corruption and the reasons why world organisations are supporting the fight against corruption. He continued by explaining the relevant international provisions and domestication in the laws of Sierra Leone. Mr. Kargbo, further explained legal reforms that are related to the subject matter such as: “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” “Agenda for prosperity”, pillar seven that dwell s on good governance and the fight against corruption.

8. 8 training session interactive for both parties to benefit and have something to take home . (d) Francis K. Lassayo; Policy and E thics Officer Mr. Lassayo - Policy and Ethics Officer emphasi zed on the rationale of the training and outlined the training methodology. He also led the participants in the group presentation on ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas are issues that help leaders to take critical decis ions in their daily activities. (e) Joseph Kangaju - Senior Policy and Ethics Officer Mr. Kangaju served as the coordinator and repertoire for the training . Dep. Dir ector . Alhassan Kargbo, Regional Manager - North, Abu Bakarr Kamara and Se nior Policy and Ethics Officer, Joseph Kangaju responding to comments and questions from participants

18. 18 The Mayor - Freetown City Council making a statement The Commissioner of ACC, Mr. Francis Ben Kaifala thanked the Mayor of Freetown, Mrs. Yvonne Akie Sawyer for allowing the Commission to organize a training wo rkshop for them centered on ethic s and integrity. He disclosed that the vision of the new ACC is to see that the transformative story of Sierra Leone is changed from that of the old one. He said the ACC is expanding its inve stigation and prosecution units to ensure that cases are speedily dealt with and that a special ACC C ourt has been identified and will be located at the then premises of the Special Court for Sierra Leone . He went to tell his audience that, though most Sierra Leoneans are concern ed with prosecutorial aspect in the fi ght against corruption yet the C ommission will lay strong emphasis on the prevention aspect which will inform and educate public and civil servants on what to do and what not to do. T he Commissioner made it clear that, the ACC is will give support to the C oun cil and other MADs in the area of trainings, conducting systems review, m ain streaming anti - corruption measures , developing policies and monitoring for compliances . This he said, will strengthen i nstitutions and provides them the opportunity to become tran sparent and accountable.

13. 13 team for such sessions to be regular as ethical issues are ongoing and it changes with time and from place to place . Chief Administrator (Falaba District Counci l) making a statement c. Mr.Sahr E Yambasu - Chief Administrator, Koinadugu District Council In his opening statement, t he Chief Administrator commended the ACC for the strategic s trides they have been adopting in the fight against graft especially by the in troduction of prevent ion tools like service charters, mainstreaming Institutional anti corruption policies into MDAs, and that the Koinadugu Di strict Council has always complied in implementing such tool kits. However , he also highlighted the challe nges o f the council and that ethical issues were amongst the top most , thus such training cannot come at a better time. The chief administrator then admonished his colleagues to take the traini ng seriously as such knowledge w ould have greater impact on the disch arge of their duties.

20. 20 Ms. Mary Magdalene Mensah (Consultant) presenting on Ethics and Morality in the work place 8. TARGET ED STAKEHOLDERS  Sierra Leone Police  Republic of Sierra Leone Arm Forces  The Sierra Leone Correctional Centre  National Electoral Commission  Immigration Department  Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority  National Public P rocurement Authority  Audit Service Sierra Leone  Offi ce of the Ombudsman  Office of the Registrar General  The Human Right Commission - Sierra Leone  Sierra Leone Teacher s ' Union  Regional Government Referral Hospitals  District Councils  City Councils  Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs

17. 17 integrity in the workplace. She reiterated that there is good reason to focus on ethics and integrity if you want to provide good service delivery. She affirmed that the fo cus of FCC is to transform the Western A rea whic h requires monumental efforts . She identified some challenges the Council is facing especially on environmental i ssues, urban setting, revenue mobilization and social contract between the Council and the public. The Mayor gave statistical reports on the ch allenges; 4.2% of population growth per annum, 0.5 % of the land marks being occupied, rapid urbanization , degradation, housing, etc . S he again noted with concern revenue mobilization involving tax revenue. S he said some people refuse to pay for taxes a s t hey longer have trust i n the Council. She outlined the four strategies to combat the above men tioned challenges which include; 1. Resilience of the city to survive 2. Environmental Management 3. Urban Planning 4. Revenue mobilization The Mayor concluded her speech that, documentation, transparency an d accountability should form an integral part of the Council and strong performance management targeting concrete and measurable evidence base activities . This issue of apathy, however, hinders the work of the FCC she c oncluded.

16. 16 e. Freetown City Council The Chair man (Deputy Commissioner - ACC) Mr. Shollay Davies, in his opening remarks, thanked the Mayor of Freetown and staff for giving the Commission the opportunity to organize a training workshop for the FCC. He said corruption has reached a level such that if it is not tackle d properly, will lead to a devastating consequence that will have an adverse effect on the people. Speaking on the theme of the workshop, Mr. Davies said that ethics and integrity are moral values that help any organization or institution to function well. He maintained that, the way public as well as civ il servants conduct themselves puts the institution on a right footing towards to public they serve. Service providers must accept integrity as their watch word, which clearly explains the degree of honesty, trust, transparency and accountability and thus the ACC adopts different strategies in the fight against corruption, and in which training workshops such as this is a path in the right direction. The Chairman also explained the cordial relationship the ACC has been enjoying with the Councils nationwide in terms of co operations and partners in development. He concluded with advi ce that, let’s not see the ACC as alien but rather as allies in nation building. Speaking on the rationale of the workshop, the Director of Systems and Processes Review Depart ment , Mr. Rashid Turay said the reason for the intervention is due to the fact that , the D epartment has received a number of complaints from the public concerning the FCC. Mr. Turay informed the audience that his D epartment does not investigate or prosecute c orrupt practices but rather conduct revi ews of systems and policies of G overnment MDAs and proffer recommendations for best practices. He highlighted instances of success stories of the SPRD interventions like issues surrounding the asycuda , remittance of funds from commercial banks to the bank of Sierra Leone within the stipulated time frame , the issue of double dipping to name but few. The May or of Freetown, Her Worship Mrs. Yvonne Akie Sawyer thanked the ACC for the opportunity accorded the Council for organizing a workshop on ethics and

4. 4 and ethics workshop for MDAs with a view to training MDAs on upholding institutional anti - corruption polic ies and ethical codes for the effective implementation and adh erence of policy and ethical codes of conduct. 3. RATIONALE AND ASSUMPTION The rationale for con ducting this workshop for MDAs wa s to emphasize the relevance of ethics and integrity in the workplace; provide benchmarks for upholding ethical values and repo rting unethical behavior that may occasion corruption and breach of policy procedures. This will ultimately enable and strengthen MDAs and public institutions to making them more effective and efficient in their service delivery systems . 4. AIMS AND OBJECTIV ES The overall objectiv e for conducting this workshop wa s to strengthen MDAs institutional compliance to policy and ethical framework in MDAs for efficiency and effectiveness and the prevention of practices that may occasion corruption. The sub objectives are:  To develop key policy compliance guidelines for MDAs.  To develop, improve and agree on fundamental ethical codes and conduct in the civil/public service.  To assess and gauge institutional policy and ethical frameworks of MDAs .  To develop/revise or improve the current codes of ethics in MDAs .  To set institutional compliance mechanisms for MDA adherence to civil/public service policy and ethics . PHASE 1 : The scope of these training sessions covered MDAs fro m the Regional Headquarters. (Makeni City, Bo City and Kenema City)

2. 2 1. INTRODUCTION The fight against corruption is a modern phenomenon adopted to address contemporary challenges in governance and democracy. In doing this, there is no one prescribed approach effective enough to mitigate corruption from one country to the other. From the Sierra Leonean perspective, the fight against graft takes prev ention, education and enforcement, as a trip artite approach led by diverse D epartment s to curbing corruption in the country. T he Systems and Processes Review Department ( SPRD) is one of the prevention D epartments that has the mandate in Section 7 (2) (f) ( g ) (h ) of the Anti - Corruption Act 2008 to examine practices and procedures of Ministries, De partments and Agencies (MDAs) and proffer recommendations on best practices that would improve on loopholes and administrative gaps. The SPRD has three units - Syst ems Review, Policy and Ethics and Monitoring and Compliance Unit. All of these units have unique and specific responsibilities as well as interwoven activities to addressing corruption in Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, the Policy and Ethics Unit is with the m andate to review various policies of govern ment institutions with a view to address ing policy gaps and recommend best practice guide for effective and efficient service delivery in governance. In line with the above , the U nit recently concluded training wi th the theme: “Upholding Integrity and Ethical Behavior in the Work P lace”. The first phase of the training took place in the four regions – Makeni (North), Kenema (East), Bo (South) and Freetown (Western Area). A total number of twenty (20) participants were invited from each region. T he second phase which captures Councils (Karene District Council, Falaba District Council, Koinadugu District Council, Port Loko District Council and the Freetown City Council) w as completed with in eight (8) days.

12. 12 PHASE 2 : This training phase focused on the managements and staff of five Councils - (Karene District Council, Falaba District Council, Koinadugu District Council , Port Loko District Council and the Freetown City Council) and the presentations were divided into three folds.  Ethics and Integrity in the Workplace  T he Importance of Creating an Ethical Work Environment  Codes of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officers STATEMENTS: a. Mr. John Dito Kama ra – Chairman , Karene District Council The chairman opened his statement with a warm welcome to the ACC team and emphasised the need for such training as the Karene Di strict Council being a sibling C ouncil which needs to be exposed in terms of trainings. He went on to state that, there are a lot of chall enges facing the council thus, intervention s such as this will boost the confidence of management and staff of the council , which also indicate that, the coun cil is being recognised. He admonished participa nts to take the training seriously in the sense that it will place them in a better position to conduct themselves in a professional manner and educate them on what constitute corruption and the offences tied to it. b. Mr. Molai Patrick Kamara – Chief Admini strator, Falaba District Council O n behalf of the chairman and staff of the counc il , Mr. Kamara welcomed the ACC staff to Mongu Bendugu, the district headquarter town of the newly esta blished council and expressed appreciation to them on the challenges of the road to access the town. He went further to highlight the importance of ethics and integrity in any work place and with such training staff will be in a decent mindset in service delivery. He also catalogued the challenges the C ouncil is faced with an d how possible interventions c an be made towards that angle. F inally he appeal ed to the ACC

21. 21  M inistry of Health and Sanitation  Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education  Ministry of Tertiary Education  Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources  Ministry of Water Resources  Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security 9. OUTCOME OF THE TRAINING S  ACC to develop anti - corruption policy and ethical guideline s for MDAs .  Improving efficiency, integrity and professionalism in the public service .  Improving policy and ethical awareness for compliance in MDAs .  Put in place anti - corruption toolkits for tr acking compliance to policy and ethical issues in MDAs .  Improves personal responsibilities . 10. RECOMMENDATION S  Establishing and/or strengthening penalties for corruption .  Ensuring the institutional capacity to implement policies aimed at mitigat ing corr uption .  Developing specialized bodies or agencies to root out corruption .  Providing increased training and guidance for public and administrative officials .  Generally strengthening organizational performance and effectiveness .  Reviewing regulatory effect iveness .  Encouraging the highest standards of public sector values .  Simplifying administrative systems .  Integrating ethical values into manage ment .

9. 9 6. METHODOLOGY  Overview of the Systems and Processes Department operations.  Presentation on Ethics and Integrity in the Work Place.  Offences in the Anti - Corruption Ac t 2008 .  Question s and answers session  Lunch break  Group work and presentation on ethical dilemmas in the work place. 7. PRESENTATIONS  The training package covered three presentations. Ethics and Integrity in the Work Place  Anti - Corruption O ffences under t he Anti - Corruption Act 2008  Ethical Dilem m as (a) Mr Musa Kanteh - Senior Policy and Ethics Officer Topic: “Ethics and Integrity in the Work Place” In his presentation , Mr. Kanteh started with an adage that ‘’The Reputation of a thousand years is determine d by conduct of a single hour” . He explained this by saying that an individual behavior is responsible for one’s career. He continued by givin g the general definitions of Ethics and Integrity, placing these two components in context of the traini ng and sha red illustrations on issues and practices in the work place. In his PowerPoint presentation, the significance of Ethics and Integrity clearly came out and the role they play in the conduct of Public and Civil Servants in the dispensation of their respectiv e duties. T he presentation also highlighted issues of h ow State r esources c ould be judiciously use d. He further explained what is permissible and wh at is prohibited in the use of S tate resources . Mr. Kanteh also addressed the notion of Gift, its position i n society and what constitute s gift and corrupt practices . He continued his presentation by explain ing the role

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