By Ilyasa Baa
Over three hundred million Leones has been stolen at the Institute of Business Administration and Technology, IBATECH, located in Waterloo, allegedly by Moses Turay, who is Deputy Director of the imstitute and Moses Koroma, the Finance Officer.
The Finance Officer, Moses Koroma, is currently barred pending investigation by the police who are due to visit the college today to gather relevant evidences against the accused.
Moses Turay has denied the allegation, explaining to this medium during a telephone conversation that the allegation is baseless and he further described it as a calculated attempt by the Director, Dr. Willy Fofana, to intimidate staff of the institution.
The missing money was said to have been raised from the fees collected from the students for two academic years.
The Director of the Institute, Dr. Willy Fofana, told this medium that the suspected theft took place in his absence when he was pursuing his studies in the United States of America.
He noted that the college is running smoothly despite the alleged larceny, adding that they the college administration are planning to utilize the money on their on-going campus construction project in Newton, where the college has acquired seven acres of land for the construction of an ultra-modern campus.
IBATECH was established over a decade ago at Haja Fatmata in Freetown and later relocated to the Western Rural District.
Accredited in 2008 by the Tertiary Education Commission, the college currently has an enrollment of 400-500 students drawn from all walks of life and it has successfully trained over eight thousand (8000) students to fit in the job market and contribute to the development of the country.
The ultra-modern college, when completed, will have six lecturing halls and eight offices for the administrative department of the college.
The college has reportedly secured forty-feet container loaded with thousands of learning materials including books and computers.
Residents of the Western Rural District have expressed the need for the police to expedite their investigation, calling on the Inspector General of Police to ensure that the matter is speedily investigated and prosecuted so that it will serve as deterrent to prevent further theft at the college.
The establishment of higher learning institutions in the remote Western Rural District has been seen as a blessing in disguise for those leaving in the district as it enables them to easily access higher education without going through transportation constrains getting to the city.
However, the growing populations in the district calls for decentralization of learning institutions to enable Sierra Leoneans acquire higher education, easily.