The ACC currently operates under the guidelines of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), issued in 2005 and revised in 2008.  The strategy emphasizes two main avenues for fighting corruption: prevention and confrontation. To that end, the NACS envisioned a National Integrity System, aimed at achieving transparent, efficient and effective public and private sector institutions. Many major steps toward the realization of these goals have already been taken.   The Public Procurement Act of 2004 established the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) to regulate and monitor public procurements.   The work of the NPPA is of paramount importance in the fight against corruption, as an estimated 60-70% of all the country’s corruption takes place within the area of procurements. The ACC and the NPPA have a close working relationship. According to Tejan-Cole, the ACC “considers itself the enforcement arm of the NPPA.”

In addition to procurement measures, the ACC recently convened its official Steering Committee, tasked with overseeing the logistical implementation of the National Integrity system.   Over the course of the Committee’s 2½ year mandate, Tejan-Cole hopes it will achieve many of the major goals of the NACS.   One of these goals, of course, is to extend the fight against corruption beyond the ACC’s headquarters in Freetown - out into the provinces, out into other government and civil society organizations, and out into the hearts and minds of all Sierra Leonean citizens. The ACC stresses that the work of fighting corruption does not belong to it alone; rather, it is a national struggle.   The ACC now has offices in Bo and in Makeni, which should be fully functional by the end of August, 2008.   In addition, the ACC has set up hotlines, enabling citizens to call and make reports from anywhere in the country. (*The numbers for those hotlines can be found at the end of this article.) The ACC is also working closely with civil society groups. “One of the first things I did after coming into my position,” recalls Tejan-Cole, “was to strengthen the department of Public Education and Outreach.   That department aims to inform the public about the evils of corruption and to enlist public support for the fight against it.”

But the ACC is still fighting an uphill battle. Tejan-Cole tells us that, though his Commission employs many wonderful staff members, they have been unable to provide the proper training, due to a lack of resources. Resource constraints are also to blame for the ACC’s current lack of equipment.   Without adequate funding to meet its staffing and equipment needs, the ACC will continue to struggle to build its capacity and meet its mandate.   Even with the proper funding, however, the ACC would still face significant limitations because of inadequacies of its current mandate. The mandate authorizes only nine offences for which the ACC may bring indictments, leaving out many other forms of corruption. Moreover, there is no provision in the current act that mandates the declaration of assets by public officials. This means that the ACC has no power to enforce President Koroma’s promise that he and his administration will declare their assets, which poses a significant obstacle to the overall goal of governmental transparency. Perhaps the largest problem currently facing the ACC, however, is its lack of independence. Under the current mandate, the ACC must refer cases to the Attorney General’s office for prosecution.   This arrangement causes a considerable conflict of interests, as the Attorney General’s office is a political body.  

There is hope, however, that many of these issues will be addressed soon. The Anti-Corruption Act of 2008, currently pending approval by Parliament, would authorize the ACC to conduct criminal prosecutions, independent of the Attorney General’s office. This arrangement would allow the ACC to have the final word on the prosecution of its cases, making it entirely free from political influence. Tejan-Cole stresses that this arrangement would not give the ACC too much power. “There are many bodies that have both investigatory and prosecutorial powers that are not too powerful, both here and abroad,” Tejan-Cole explained. “Look at the FCC in Nigeria and also the police. The police here in Sierra Leone have the power to investigate as well as to prosecute. We do not think those abilities add up to too much power. All it would do is make us fully independent, which is essential to carrying out our duties effectively.” In addition to granting prosecutorial powers, the bill would expand the list of indictable offenses, enhance protections for whistleblowers and witnesses, and mandate the declaration of the assets of public officials. All in all, these changes would vastly improve the ACC’s structure and capacity, and substantially improve its ability to fight corruption.

Abdul Tejan-Cole knows that the ACC has difficult work ahead, but he knows, too, that that work is imperative to bringing a brighter future to Sierra Leone. When asked about his vision for the future of the ACC, Cole replied:

“I would say that I have three broad goals. The first is to improve the capacity of the Commission, especially when it comes to independence. The second goal is to improve the delivery of services.   We need to improve professionalism within the organization as well as our ability to handle the number of cases that we get. Finally, I would like to improve public knowledge and awareness regarding issues of anti-corruption, especially by enlisting the help of civil society and the media. If I can accomplish these three objectives during my term as commissioner, I will feel good about my performance.”  

* Reports to the ACC may be made by calling their hotline from any mobile phone. On Africell: 077-985-985 or 077-986-986. On Celltel: 161