By Ralph Sesay
Orange Sierra Leone has on Wednesday 27th November 2019, held its 2nd annual ethics and compliance day at its Wilberforce Street office in Freetown.
Senior Executive members of the Company including the Chief Executive Officer made their unflinching commitment to promote a sound ethical and compliant culture in the business.
Madam Aminata Kane while speaking at the ceremony, noted that the ethical and compliance is mainly set aside for the purposes of raising awareness of all employees on the ethics and compliance challenges and risks to strengthen Orange approach to ethics and compliance across all Orange operations.
The CEO also underscored the point that the day is also important to strengthen the organization’s momentum of action plans with a view to mitigate the associated risks and to also build a consistent and structured communication on ethics and compliance.
Madam Kane noted that staff of Orange Sierra Leone are taking time from their normal work schedule to raise consciousness on the related matters of fraud awareness.
“As in matters of corruption ,we all have a role to play to create a climate in which any act of fraud have zero tolerance and that any instance of fraud is identified and reported,’’ the CEO stated.
The Orange CEO disclosed that businesses all over the world are challenged and continue to encounter numerous ethics and compliance challenges, and are also exposed to several risks, so too there is pressure, according to her, on business to strengthen their legal and compliance framework in line with international standards to fight corruption.
She concluded by committing herself to the fight against corruption and also influencing peddling and to lead a working environment with zero tolerance on corruption at all levels.
Head of Compliance, Gerald Cole, made a snappy presentation and emphasized that Orange Sierra Leone has an obligation to compliance with both national and international laws as they relate to corruption.
He added that the fight against graft has gone beyond borders and that there are now extra judicial powers with a view to globally strengthen the fight against graft.
Mr. Cole dilated on the various countries including France, Great Britain and America to which Orange Sierra Leone is listed with and the penalties that Orange Sierra Leone will attract should in case it is found wanting on corruption related matters available.
The Head of Compliance also disclosed that Orange globally is celebrating its 7th Ethics and Compliance Day while OSL is celebrating its 2nd Ethics and Compliance Day and that the theme for this year’s celebration is Conflict of Interest and Whistle blowing.
He admonished staff to declare their interest when such situations occur and to also report what they think is a fraudulent activity and has the tendency to undermine the credibility of the organization.
ACC Commissioner, Francis Ben Kaifala, hailed Orange Sierra Leone for the laudable venture and noted that it is the first private sector organization to invite the ACC to speak and help contribute in working towards eliminating graft in their institution.
He underscored the point that this is what the anti graft body is looking forward in all organizations as it makes their work easier and establishes a strong foundation for the fight against graft in Sierra Leone.
Alpha Bundu of the Fraud Unit and many others made presentations on what constitutes fraud, the strategy of Orange Sierra Leone to eliminate and detect fraud and the issues around conflict of interest and whistle blowing and what is expected of employees at Orange Sierra Leone.