Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission

The Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission (ACC-SL) commonly known as ACC is an independent agency of the Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Government, that investigates and prosecutes corruption cases in Sierra Leone. The ACC is supervised by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Justice. The current Head of the ACC is Francis Ben Kaifala, who has been in office since June, 2018. .

The ACC was established by the Anti-Corruption Act passed by the Sierra Leone Parliament in 2000 under the leadership of then Sierra Leone's president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.[1] It supersedes the 1960 Prevention of Corruption Act. The Head of the ACC is appointed by the president of Sierra Leone and must be confirmed by the Parliament of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone president has the constitutional authority to sack the ACC Head at any time.

Formation

The ACC was established following the 1990s civil war to investigate rampant corruption in public agencies, then beginning to receive renewed foreign investment. The 2000 Anti-Corruption Act established the ACC as an independent commission to investigate government corruption. The ACC was partially funded and staffed by foreign (mostly British) experts, although in 2007 the British government withdrew support claiming the ACC were not given broad enough powers.[2]

Its first major action was to order the arrest of Sierra Leone's Minister of Transport and Communications Momoh Pujeh and his wife for involvement in the illegal diamond trade which funded much of the Civil War.[3] Corruption is seen as a generalised problem of huge proportions in Sierra Leone, and a contributing factor to the outbreak and continuation of the bloody civil war which destroyed the nation.[4] As late as 2007, the government itself admitted that entire ministries failed to produce any work, as their entire budgets were being diverted through corruption.[5] A BBC journalist interviewed the Foreign Minister in 2007 and found that her office toilets were never connected to water sources as construction contractors failed to carry out jobs for which they were paid.[6]

The hitherto accusation against the ACC for not being committed to the fight against corruption has changed with the change in government in 2018. With a new commitment from President Julius Maada Bio, considerable efforts have been made aimed at corruption control and the country has repositioned itself to more robustly deal with corruption.[7] One foreign commentator accused the pre-2004 ACC in a World Bank study of being a "Phoney" reform organisation, created to "appease foreign donors" but not effectively fight government corruption. This is no longer the case with the commission now pursuing cases involving past and present government officials with no favoritism or sacred cows.[8]

Reforms

In November 2005, ACC head Valentine Collier was himself sacked, accused of involvement in corruption,[9][10] although his defenders argue he was sacrificed by the Sierra Leone parliament to appease the British government's Department for International Development (DFID), the ACC's primary funder.[11]

In 2005, its power to prosecute was removed from the office of the Sierra Leone Attorney General, and given to an independent three person body.

In early 2008, the commission's powers were again amended to give it direct arrest and prosecutorial powers[12] following the electoral victory of President Ernest Bai Koroma in September 2007 on a platform that made new anti-corruption actions a central plank.[13][14] In October 2007, Henry Joko-Smart was removed as chair, accused of not doing enough to move prosecutions forward, and replaced with human-rights lawyer Abdul Tejan-Cole.[15] Active cases have dramatically increased from 2004.[7] Notable 2008 prosecution targets included the former senior Sierra Leonian government Ombudsman[14] and 12 officials of the Customs and Excise Department of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) as well as one police officer connected with the NRA.[12] In 2010 Tejan-Cole stepped down to become the executive director of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.[16]. The story of the Anti-Corruption Commission has been different since June 2018 with the change in leadership not just for the Commission but also for the country. Prosecutions and investigations now cover the high and low including current and past government officials, the judiciary, the police, the private sector, the revenue generating bodies, the educational sector and even the Presidency. High Profile cases include those against the Former Vice President Victor Foh, the former Head of the National Revenue Authority Haja Kallah Kamara, Former head of the National Maritime Administration, the current Minister of Labour Alpha Timbo, and many others. These new developments are encouraging as the commission is becoming the model of the fight against corruption in Africa with a lot to be hopeful about.

The current head of the ACC is Francis Ben Kaifala, a well-respected and erudite multiple award-winning lawyer who before now was in private practice. Francis Ben Kaifala, LL.M (Lond.), LL.M (UT-USA), LL.B (Hons.), B.L is the 6th and youngest Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone since its formation in 2001. Before his appointment, he was the Senior / Managing Partner in the Firm Kaifala, Kanneh & Co. situate at Top Floor, 81 Pademba Road, Freetown - a law firm he co-founded which has captured a huge market and reputed for quality legal service and speedy delivery. He is a household name at the Sierra Leone Bar and had served as the Public Relations Officer and Spokesman of the Sierra Leone Bar Association in the year 2012-2013. Francis is currently the President of the National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa with port folio to chair the Executive Committee and coordinate the effective campaign against corruption in the sub-region.

As Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone, his result-oriented leadership has favorably led that institution to be awarded, for the first time in its 18-year history, “Best Public Sector Institution of the Year 2019” at the National Development Awards 2018 and “Outstanding Commission of the Year” by the National Youth-led Awards with record breaking recovery of corrupt properties and funds and convictions. Sierra Leone has now passed the Millennium Challenge Corporations’ Control of Corruption Scorecard from a failing position of 49% in 2017 (before his appointment) to a respectable pass of 71% in 2018 and increased to 79% in 2019 - the country's first ever back-to-back pass of the MMC Scorecard; Afro Barometer Corruption Perception dropped from over 70% in 2015-2017 to an all-time low of 43% in 2018; Similarly, according Afro Barometer Corruption Perception survey of 2018, Citizens’ belief in government’s effort in the fight against corruption jumped from an all-time low of 40% to over 66% in 2018; and according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Sierra Leone moved one space up in the CPI rankings in 2018 from 130 to 129 and thereafter exponentially jumped by 10 spaces to from 129 to 119 in 2019 with its highest ever score in the CPI recorded (33). Sierra Leone now ranks more favorably in Government effectiveness in the fight against corruption in all indices. Moreover, the ACC has over 95% conviction rate. Unprecedentedly, the ACC was able to recover domestically over Le 18 Billion (Over $2,000,000.00) of lost funds through corruption and corrupt practices and returned to the People of Sierra Leone for the provision of social services with almost Billion Leones already committed to be recovered after completed investigations within the first one year six months of his appointment (This recovery rate within one year is more than what the ACC had ever recovered in its 18 years prior existence as a whole before the appointment of Commissioner Kaifala). Also, Prosecutions are now moving faster and investigations covering all spheres of public life with no room for impunity happening. Generally, the citizens’ confidence in the fight against corruption and the results being produced by the ACC are at an all-time high since Mr. Kaifala assumed office.

He is a bilingual Lawyer who writes and speaks French fluently in addition to the English Language. He has vast experience in Corporate/Commercial Litigation and practice in the Superior Courts of Judicature of Sierra Sierra Leone and he has appeared in Several High Profile Cases in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court where he has left excellent records and performance. He is also very active at the Criminal Bar as he has been involved in several High Profile Criminal Cases. Many who have witnessed his performance in court describe him as an "astute, Superb and brilliant Lawyer". He has written several legal, Finance and Economics articles and social Commentaries which have appeared in respected National and international tabloids, magazines and journals and websites, and has participated in various Legal Researches (including the World Bank's Doing Business Report (A co-publication of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation) and Women, Business and the Law (another World Bank Flagship Publication) and the anchor for various International Law Research bodies. He has experience in dealing with general and specialty contracts and has received Continued Professional Development training in various areas of the Law including Arbitration, Mediation, Oil and Gas, International Human Rights Law, Advanced business transactions, investment, Combatting Corruption, Leadership at Advanced level, etc.

Francis is a product of the Sierra Leone Grammar School and his academic excellence began since school days where he took 1st Position in every class throughout Primary and Secondary Schools and passed the WASSCCE Exams as the Top Arts Student of his generation (2002) to enter and study law straight after High School at the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He graduated from Fourah Bay College among the very top in his class and won the Attorney- General Eke Ahmed Holloway Award from the University of Sierra Leone in recognition of his outstanding performance in his Undergraduate studies in 2006. He thereafter enrolled in and graduated from the Sierra Leone Law School in 2007 as the "Star Pupil" (Best Student) and Valedictorian and won several awards that year, including the Chief Justice Ade Renner-Thomas Prize for Best Student, The Prof. Alghali Prize for best All-rounder, the C.P Foray Prize for best student Equity and Trust, the Justice George Gelaga-King Prize for Best student in Construction of Legal Documents and Drafting, etc. and remains the last Star Pupil to do so with a Second Class Upper Degree since 2007 to date.

Francis Ben Kaifala Esq., after 7 years of continued legal practice with Wright & Co (Solicitors) in 2013, proceeded to the United Kingdom, studied, and obtained the Full Time Master’s Degree in Law and Economics and he holds the interdisciplinary LLM (Master of Laws) in Law and Economics, jointly awarded by the School of Law and the School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary, University of London, in London, United Kingdom. His Master’s thesis on Sovereign Debt Restructuring was graded "Distinction" for the Award. His areas of expertise covers Legal aspects of International Finance, International Economic Law, Private International Law, Regulation of Financial markets, Corporate Finance, Structured and Secured Finance, Banking Law, Central Banking and Regulation, International Financial Law, International Investment Law, International Trade Law, Climate Change and Energy, Term Loans and Syndicated Lending, Sovereign Finance and Public Debt Management, Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Project Finance, the Law of the World Trade Organization, International Financial Institutions (the IMF and World Bank), Arbitration and Mediation in International Trade and Investment Disputes (ICSID, UNCITRAL, etc.), Corporate Insolvency and Reorganization, Derivatives Contracts and Law, Competition and Anti-Trust Laws, Islamic Finance Law, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Political and Constitutional Economics, Economic Analysis of Law, Behavioral Economics and Critical Thinking and Writing for Lawyers.

Francis is also an alumnus of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Program which he was awarded in 2017 by the US Embassy in Freetown and the US Department of State for Education and he and graduated on Dean's List with the LL.M (Master of Laws) in Comparative Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and International Human Rights at the University of Texas at Austin, in the United States of America as a Fulbright Scholar. This three-in-one course extensively covered Comparative Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Labour, Equality and International Human Rights, Comparative Judicial Politics, Global Constitutionalism, Corruption in Africa, Constitutional Design, Constitutional Interpretation, Explorations in Global Constitutional Law and Politics and Human Rights Law in Africa. He was also Human Rights Scholar with the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Centre for Human Rights and Justice in Austin Texas where he engaged in enriching human rights work, experience, and training in that prestigious institution.

Francis has won several Awards including “Obama Africa Leader 2019”, “West Africa’s Young person of the Year 2019” by Confederation of West African Youths; “Public Servant of the Year 2019” by the AWOL (National Achievement Awards); The Bai Bureh Heritage Award for “Inspirational Leadership in the Fight Against Corruption”; Diaspora Focus Award 2019 for “Extraordinary Leadership in the Fight Against Corruption”; “100 Most Influential Young Africans 2019” by the Pan African Youth Forum; “100 Most influential Young Africans” by the Official Most Influential African Movement; “Sierra Leone’s Best Public Sector Leader of the Year 2019”, “Patriotic Personality of the Year 2019”, “West Africa’s Young person of the Year 2019” by Confederation of West African Youths; African Achievers Award 2018 for “Excellence in the Fight Against Corruption”, Heirs Africa “Seal of Integrity Award 2018 for Excellent Leadership in the Fight Against Corruption” Eminence Africa “Achievement in Law Award 2018 for Leadership in the Fights against Corruption”; “10 Most Outstanding Sierra Leoneans 2018” by Chosen Generation Sierra Leone, “HeForShe Ambassador Award” for Outstanding Support to Women and Girls, “Best Public Sector Leader of the Year 2018”, “Exemplary Leader of the Year”, Ecomedia Award for “Excellence in Professional Service 2018”, Council of Chief Executive Officers and Business Executives’ “Professional of the Year 2017”, National Leadership Awards’ “Emerging Leader of the Year 2017”, “Lawyer of the Year 2016”, “Young Lawyer of the Year 2015”, Auradicals Awards 2011 and 2016 for “Exemplary Service to Humanity”; and received various Recognitions including Ovation magazine’s “100 Most Outstanding Sierra Leoneans 2019”, “50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans 2018”, Ovation magazine’s “100 Most Influential Sierra Leoneans 2017”, Ovation Magazine's “Top 100 Most Influential Sierra Leoneans 2016”, Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development’s “Top 50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans 2017”, Salone Times Newspaper “Top 10 Sierra Leoneans 2016”.

On the International Scene, Francis Ben Kaifala was recruited by the United Nation's Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on the Young Africa Lawyers (YAL) Program as one of the Trained and Specialist Climate Change Negotiators who represent Africa in Global Climate change and related Negotiations.

Despite all these achievements, which are a testament of Francis' continued quest for excellence and dedication to hard work, Francis remains humble and conducts himself with absolute humility and utmost respect for all who meet him and softens hearts and wins allies with his trademark smile and bushy, but well-kept, dark hair.

Francis Ben Kaifala, who is the former Chairman of the Renaissance Movement, has emerged as one of the Country's very strong advocates for social justice and Human Rights and is very vocal on socio-political and legal reform. In addition to his previous work as a corporate/commercial lawyer representing a huge local and global clientele, he has stood out as a vibrant defender of those whose human rights are challenged by the "powerful" in society and his fearless defense and astute legal tenacity had made him one of the most popular lawyers ever in Sierra Leone at an early age. His success in criminal and civil matters in court are outstanding and is rated among the very top lawyers of Sierra Leone.

He is a devout Roman Catholic. He plays squash well, loves good music, supports Manchester United and enjoys clean parties. Even though a workaholic, Francis finds time to watch movies, spend time with friends and family; and engages in philanthropy in his community and beyond. Francis neither smokes cigarette nor drinks alcohol.

His radical and fearless approach to fighting corruption has already captured the attention of Africa and the world and is bringing positive results for the country in terms of reputation cleansing and reforms.

[17]

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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. SL Crime-buster wants clout Archived 7 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Reuters/News24 (SA) 08/12/2007
  3. Sierra Leone minister arrested. BBC. 1 November 2001
  4. Sierra Leone still blighted by war. Joseph Winter, BBC. 17 October 2005.
  5. S Leone 'riddled with corruption'. Mark Doyle, BBC. 14 November 2007.
  6. Can S Leone flush away corruption. Mark Doyle, BBC. 23 January 2009.
  7. Liliane Bitong Ambassa/IRIN. 16 December 2005 (IRIN)
  8. pp. 270-271. Sahr Kpundeh. Process interventions versus structural reforms: institutionalizing anticorruption reforms in Africa. pp. 257-282 in Building State Capacity in Africa: New Approaches, Emerging Lessons. Brian Levy, Sahr John Kpundeh (eds). World Bank Publications, (2004) ISBN 978-0-8213-6000-2
  9. Donors pledge to rebuild S Leone. BBC. 1 December 2005.
  10. Mr. President, just for the sake of integrity. John Baimba Sesay Awoko (Freetown). 30 July 2008
  11. Let the dishonourable members exit. Editorial The Christian Monitor (Freetown) Monday, 9 April 2007
  12. Anti-Corruption Commission arrests 12 Government Officials. Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme. Mar 8, 2008
  13. S Leone president declares assets. BBC. 1 September 2008.
  14. Sierra Leone police detain ex-ombudsman. Reuters/IOL (SA). April 18, 2008
  15. Sierra Leone Sacks Anti-Corruption Chief. Kari Barber. VOA News. 24 October 2007
  16. http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/people/abdul-tejan-cole
  17. http://www.anticorruption.gov.sl/index.php?p=61&pn=Our%20Management%20Team

The current anti-corruption commissioner is Francis Ben Kaifala.

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