By: Abdulai Saccoh
Senior Public Education Officer
“Any attempts by government employees to abdicate their responsibilities will compromise socioeconomic activities designed to improve the wellbeing of underprivileged citizens. Public sector workers should therefore see themselves as the nucleus of the country’s development programs.” This statement was made by the Provincial Secretary (PS), South, Abu Kamara, during a sensitization meeting organized by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Southern Region office held in the conference hall of the Provincial Secretary’s Office, Tikonko Road, Bo, on Thursday, 31st July 2025.
Mr. Kamara commended the ACC for its strides in employing diverse strategies to enhance transparency and accountability in public sector institutions. He called on staff to put into action the anti-corruption measures shared with them by the ACC, as they are intended to add value to their work.
In his statement, ACC’s Southern Regional Director, Momodu Sittar, highlighted the important contributions of both civil and public servants and described them as the drivers of government policies and programs. He acknowledged that despite the challenges the public sector is confronted with, yet there are dedicated staff that continue to serve the country with integrity and diligence.
Mr. Sittar recognized the efforts of government and its development partners to strengthen public sector institutions through policy reforms and capacity building programs. He said that the transformations which are currently being rolled out in these institutions will be futile if the sector is inundated with corruption.
The Regional Director reminded the participants of the consequences that await anyone convicted of corruption offences, such as a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand (new) Leones, or imprisonment for a term not less than five years, or both such fine and prison term. Mr. Sittar affirmed ACC’s commitment to serve justice to any individual whose pleasure is to engage in heinous acts that will deprive the citizenry of basic amenities.
Speaking at the meeting, ACC’s Senior Public Education Officer, Abdulai Saccoh, said that despite Sierra Leone’s civil service being one of the oldest in sub-Saharan Africa, yet it continues to struggle with maintaining transparency and accountability in the management and utilization of state resources.
Mr Saccoh admonished them not to use the call to national service as an opportunity to satisfy their insatiable demand for wealth through corrupt means. He said that when integrity is absent, corruption thrives, and this severely erodes the population's trust and confidence in service delivery. He admonished the audience not to engage in any unlawful practices that would breach public trust and lead to loss of revenue.
Public Education Officer of ACC, Mohamed A. Kabba, said the Commission deemed it necessary to interact with the PS office to promote the tenets of integrity, transparency and accountability in order to add value to their work. He said that fighting corruption should not be seen as the business of the ACC alone, but rather as the civic responsibility of all citizens and therefore implored on them to take pride in doing the correct work and have the courage to expose the corrupt.
