Sierra Leone moves to curb graft in in Covid-19 response

In a move meant to pre-empt a possible repeat of the experience in its response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic, when millions of US Dollars of funds meant for the response effort were diverted into personal purses, the Sierra Leone government has warned of punitive measures against corrupt officials.

The country’s anti-graft agency said on Friday it had set up a Coronavirus Disease Response Transparency Task Force, with the primary role of ensuring and instilling “integrity, accountability and transparency” in the utilization and management of funds meant for the Covid-19 response,

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said in a statement it would prosecute any individual or organization suspected of involvement in a corrupt act with regards the funds, calling on all government and non-governmental organizations involved in the response to make all donations it received public.

The ACC also urged the public to make complaint of any suspicious activity.

“Any complaint of suspected acts of corruption and/or corrupt practices in the Coronavirus Response programmes will be investigated as a matter of priority and urgency under the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as Amended in 2019,” it said.

“All national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are encouraged to make public any moneys, donations and pledges received for and on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone in regard the control and containment of this pandemic,” the statement added.

The move was welcomed by Sierra Leoneans. 

Corruption is one of the factors blamed for the severity of the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic which ravaged Sierra Leone and its neighbours Liberia and Guinea.

There were reports of officials pocketing millions of US Dollars of public funds meant for the Ebola response, leaving poorly protected healthcare workers struggling to cope with the deadly disease that claimed over 3000 lives in Sierra Leone alone.

Several former public officials have been named in connection to those missing funds.

International NGOs too have had their fair share of the scandal. The Sierra Leone Red Cross, for instance, couldn’t account for about US$2million, prompting an investigation by both the International Federation of the Red Cross and the ACC.

A Commission of Inquiry set up by current President Julius Maada Bio to investigate the administration of his predecessor, Ernest Bai Koroma, came to a similar conclusion about the misuse of the Ebola funds last month.

 The regional Community court of the Economic Community of West African State is currently hearing a case filed by over 400 survivors of the epidemic who say the failure of the government to act and provide adequate resources for the response led to their predicament and the death of the over 3000 others.