‘The greatest glory in falling is rising again.’ This sentiment generates the invaluable need for Sierra Leone to heroically recover from her ugly past. To achieve this, the nation needs to be reconstructed on the solid pillars of human dignity, peaceful co-existence and social justice. The absence of these social conditions, deserved by the people of Sierra Leone, was engendered principally by corruption and impunity in relation to corruption. It was this that triggered the decade long civil war that has left indelible negative scars upon the country.
Corruption was not only one of the prime causes of the war but also largely sustained it. During the war, senior government officials and officers of the Sierra Leone Army contributed immensely in sustaining the war by diverting logistical support intended for the war to their personal use. Consequently, they did not only undermine the defence of the country, but their corrupt practices resulted into a great deal of dissatisfaction on the parts of junior soldiers and those at the war front. This dissatisfaction ultimately erupted into rebellion on the part of the junior ranks who expressed their indignation of the system by seizing power on two occasions. Corruption went on galore!
Eventually the war came to target innocent people to an extent that the dire need for peace was cried for in every nook and cranny of this country. This culminated in the Lomé Peace Accord and the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission pursuant to Article XXVI of the Accord. The mandate of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was to create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights and international law related to the armed conflict in Sierra Leone from the beginning of the conflict in 1991 to the signing of the Lomé Peace Agreement; to address impunity, to respond to the needs of the victims, to promote healing and reconciliation and to prevent the repetition of the violations and abuses suffered.
The TRC in response to this mandate started operations in 2002 and looked at; inter alia, the causes of conflict, which mainly posited issues of bad governance and pervasive corruption as the pivot. In its report, the TRC recommended that the Government put adequate structures in place to fight corruption. It specifically recommended the disclosure of assets by ‘powerful public position holders’ including members of cabinet, judges, Parliamentarians, heads of parastatals and members of district and city councils, before and after assumption of office, in order to enhance transparency. Furthermore, the TRC recommended that Government works towards the publication of all funding allocated to the provision of services so as to ensure accountability to the people of Sierra Leone. The Commission warned against corruption that, if not arrested, will lay the grounds for further conflict, hamper the efforts towards development and sap the country of its life force. Most importantly, the TRC recommended that the Anti-Corruption Commission (‘ACC’) be “permitted to pursue its own prosecutions in the name of the Republic of Sierra Leone”, because the Attorney General has been criticized for rendering the ACC ineffective. This implies that the ACC should be permitted to determine all cases that are justiciable and prosecute them in court directly without having to be sanctioned first by the office of the Attorney General.
Without any fiber of equivocation, the ACC has been set up to make corruption history, thereby thwarting the stakes for the recurrence of war in this country. However, the Commission has not yet done enough to effect positive changes in society. This is due to certain institutional problems created chiefly by the acts and omissions of the Government. The Government of Sierra Leone has so far failed to take the requisite steps to facilitate the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations, especially the sections that have to do with the fight against corruption. In its White Paper (response to the TRC recommendations), the Government conspicuously failed to mention a word about corruption. Sufficient efforts have not been taken regarding disclosure of assets by Government officials; regarding publication of information on budget allocation, especially for social services; and most importantly in terms of enhancing the independence of ACC, with regards to the issue of justiciability and subsequent prosecution.
As for the latter, Vice President Solomon Berewa during the Development Partnership Committee Meeting in September said “…we have established a committee comprising two ACC Special Prosecutors and a Law Officer appointed by the Government. This committee will now make the decision as to whether any ACC case merits prosecution. The decision of the committee is deemed the decision of the Attorney General.” The SLCMP is not sure whether the Government was acting based on the recommendations of the TRC. Even if that is the case, this drive could only enhance the independence of the ACC if it is allowed to prosecute the cases, meaning cases should not be sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). Furthermore, like the three man committee, the cases being prosecuted should be deemed the actions of the DPP and in the name of the Government of Sierra Leone.
The recommendations made by the TRC are just minimum threshold efforts that are required of serious minded governments to enhance the fight against corruption. Realistically, the implementation of these recommendations requires little financial resources and therefore leaves the Government with no excuse not to implement them. In such a case, a government has to be extremely complacent about corruption to leave these basics in undoing corruption unattained.
Corruption still costs Sierra Leone so much and is the root cause for the difficult living conditions among the average Sierra Leonean which have consistently maintained Sierra Leone at the nadir of the UNDP Human Development Index. Crucially and shamefully, Sierra Leone recently failed to qualify as a beneficiary of the G8’s debt cancellation initiative apparently because the Government fell short of convincing the donors of its effort to fight corruption. Equally detrimentally and embarrassingly, a meeting of prospective donors in Paris to discuss the Poverty Reduction Strategy for Sierra Leone was called off in June because of Sierra Leone’s faint endeavors at addressing corruption.
That said, the SLCMP still thinks that hope is not lost. However we view with strong conviction that corruption can be made history only if there is strong political will complementing the Anti- Corruption Commission (instead of competing with it) and related civil society groups. The ACC needs its own specialized investigation, prosecution and prevention bodies. The ACC Act 2000 imperatively needs more amendments in order to incorporate the salient recommendations the TRC has made. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice has too many powers as established in sections 36,37,39,40 and 48 of the ACC Act 2000 especially when the holder of this position is a politician. The SLCMP yearns for the truth no matter who says it and for justice no matter who it is for or against, so that together, we can build a Sierra Leone that we can be proud of.
