The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Mr. Adekunle King, has been reportedly accused by some sections of the Motor Drivers and General Workers Union of failing to complement their drive to weed out corruption at their Union.
He has been accused by several individuals, including the embattled Secretary General, Ansu Ngobeh, of providing cover for the defunct Alpha Bah executive, which he has failed to set aside even when he was advised by the Sierra Leone Labour Congress and the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission.
Nightwatch has in its possession several correspondences directed to the Minister in which he has been advised, accordingly, by both the membership of the Union and the Sierra Leone Labour Congress to protect the funds of the Union, which are still at the disposal of the indicted President and his cohorts across the country.
The Minister, the aggrieved members noted, has vehemently refused and the ACC had to physically seal the offices of the Drivers Union on Monday in order to prevent the indicted Alpha Bah from still working as President.
This was done after the ACC had officially notified the Minister in a letter dated 11th December, 2019. The notification intended for Alpha Bah together and his National Treasurer and Vice President to have been indicted for corruption related offences and by law they should be set aside.
A National Executive Council member has also told nightwatch that even when the Freetown offices of the Motor Drivers Union have been sealed off by the ACC, the indicted President Alpha Bah still remains highly influential with over 500 sub-units across the country. In fact, these sub-units collect almost over Le 200 million Leones a month.
Setting aside Alpha Bah and his executive, and instituting a caretaker committee, which has been suggested to the Minister by Union members, based on best practices, is the only solution to our problem, the NEC member noted.
The Labour Minister, in his desperation to sustain the Alpha Bah hegemony had written a letter to the Sierra Leone Police dated 28 January, 2019 requesting for Police clearance for the conduct of the Drivers Union election, 24 hours after the ACC had sealed the offices of the Motor Drivers Union office at Texaco Kissy.
Kudos to the Sierra Leone Police who through their proper assessment of the Drivers Union saga and it tendency to derail the peace, had requested for a meeting of all parties before they could give clearance for the conduct of the elections.
Does the Sierra Leone Police have to tell Minister King that allowing Alpha Bah to superintend over union elections when he remains indicted for corruption is a recipe for chaos?
While we commend the ACC for attempting to tackle corruption at the grassroots level, where it has been pervading with impunity, we also urge it to ensure that people in Government, who are not cooperative with the fight, be investigated with a view to establish why they have failed to act in concert with the ACC’s work.
The ACC should investigate Minister King for his failure to do what is required of him as a Minister of a Government that has waged a war on corruption. Why is the Minister so desperate in maintaining the Alpha Bah executive to an extent that he would surreptitiously support the activities of the Bah executive even when the ACC has sealed off his offices?
It is very clear that, after three months of rigorous investigation into the affairs of the Motor Drivers and General Workers Union, leading to the conviction of Alpha and his executive, the line Minister has failed to complement the efforts of the ACC and the general membership, who have taken the Alpha Bah administration to the ACC, by setting aside the indicted President and instituting a caretaker committee, an established best practice adopted in 2007 by the then Minister of Labour, Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray, and the Sierra Leone Labour Congress.
As we go to press, the membership has disclosed an ultimatum to the Minister, advising him to set up a caretaker committee against the 15th January. This ultimatum has expired and Alpha Bah, they noted, continues to control huge finances of the Union, while their membership continues to languish across state prisons in the country for minor offences as a result of lack of legal representation.
The Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union, an amalgamation of transport owners, workers and commercial drivers, with a membership of over 100,000 thousand and with branches across the length and breadth of the country, raise over Le 200,000,000 a month. It has been pervaded with corruption since its inception, with past presidents and their executives failing to properly account for the huge finances of the Union.
The Alpha Amadu Bah case is a litmus test for the firebrand ACC czar, Francis Ben Kaifala, who is committed to fight corruption with the requisite political will to tackle the menace headlong in every sector of the Sierra Leonean society.