By Ragan M. Conteh
On allegations of corruption, by Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, against the Clerk of Parliament, the ACC has narrowly set free Parliament from indictment.
The press release, from the Public Relation Department of Parliament, stated that, following the conclusive outcome of an investigation carried out by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Sierra Leone, on allegations of corruption by Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh against the Clerk of Parliament, the ACC, in its Press Release regarding same on Friday 12th March 2021, has revealed that it did not meet the threshold of evidence to warrant criminal prosecution.
The release went on that the ACC has not found any evidence of corruption in Parliament as alleged, save for tasking its Prevention Department to work with the Parliament of Sierra Leone in order to strengthen its systems and processes regarding the management of its finances.
It says the Parliament of Sierra Leone is willing to fully cooperate with the conclusion and recommendations contained in the said Press Release aimed at strengthening openness, transparency and accountability in the management of its finances.
The release furthered that Parliament is an accountable institution of governance that is reviewing its operations in light of corporate governance, development of new policies and establishment of new directorates aimed at strengthening openness, transparency and accountability in the management of its finances.
It should however be mentioned that, even prior to this investigation, Parliament had itself, through several meetings of the Parliamentary Service Commission in Kenema, Makeni and Port Loko, inaugurated a process for putting in place sound and credible policies to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of its financial resources; a yawning gap that it had inherited from the Fourth Parliament.
Parliament is therefore, the release says, is ready and willing to cooperate fully with the ACC with a view to further enhance and strengthen institutional accountability and transparency in this regard.
It says the general public may recall that, in 2019, the Parliament of Sierra Leone organized its first ever open day in the precincts of Parliament, where it explained publicly about its income and expenditure and gave citizens the opportunity to directly interface with Hon. Members and staff of Parliament in order to understand their roles and responsibilities in the governance architecture of Sierra Leone.
The current Parliament has assembled and published fact-sheets supported by the European Union and Westminster Foundation for Democracy such as Meet the Leadership of the 5th Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone, Visitors’ Guide to the Parliament of Sierra Leone, House of Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone Service Charter, and its Mobile App.
The release concluded that all of these developments, under the current administration, are geared toward making Parliament open, accessible, transparent and accountable to the citizens of Sierra Leone, from whom sovereignty flows including power, authority, and legitimacy pursuant extant provisions in Act No. 6 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.