By Sulaiman Jalloh
During a press conference held at its office in Freetown on Thursday, March 6, 2025, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Sierra Leone updated newsmen about an ongoing investigation involving the Freetown City Council (FCC) for alleged misappropriation of an amount of Four Billion Old Leone (4bn Le).
According to the commission, they are investigating fifteen people. Among them, 13 are from FCC, and 2 are from the commerce and Mortgage bank that the support activities started in 2022- to January 2025.
This investigation underscores the commission’s unwavering commitment to fighting corruption in the country.
In his welcome remarks, the deputy commissioner, Augustine Foday Ngobie said the media and ACC are strong partners.
Francis Ben Kaifala Esq, ACC boss, started by saying the press conference was to update journalists and the public on issues that have been a topic relating to alleged corruption at the Freetown City Council, noting they are doing the investigation in tandem with FCC. “Our natural disaster to this country is human beings,” he disclosed, empathizing that the commission under his watch has exposed corruption, disgraced people, we have recovered money and charged people to make sure corruption is over in the country but said some people believe that they can only succeed if they engage in corruption. He said of the 4bn Le, about 3bn were applied wrongly.
Ben Kaifala added that the FCC itself has started its investigation, hence the intervention of the Anti-Corruption Commission would fast-track and expand the nature of the investigation and they have discovered that when checks are received, they would add it to the football club account at the end something he said the money would no longer reach the city; instead, the accounts of the football. “When checks are written in the name of the Freetown City Council and given to particular revenue generating department in the council, somehow they found a way to make sure that money is distributed among them” he stated, adding some of the money could be for billboards, licenses, leases, and recent among other things that council does.
He noted that the account was open to take care of the welfare of players who are/were playing for the Freetown City Council football club, and three people were assigned to the account to take care of the said account to carry the welfare of the club. He said those people were doing it with a collision with other commercial banks to divert money. “Some are in custody, some have been bailed, others have started paying back the money” he informed journalists. He emphasized that it was a syndicate organized by staff of the Freetown City Council who saw a loophole which they exploited
Commissioner Ben Kaifala asserted that during the process, the bankers were the principal conduits, saying the Freetown City Council staff would have not succeeded without the assistance of the bankers. He lamented that some of the staff at the bank were forging signatures to divert the money, emphasizing that banks should protect individual and government money while promising to change it, something he said would be a two-way approach; both individuals would face consequences and the alleged bankers.
He, however, warned banks to organize themselves to make sure the public and customers’ money was protected. “The real stealing that is affecting the fabric of this country is sometimes done by people who occupied lower positions” Kaifala concluded while encouraging everyone to join in the fight against corruption to change the story of the country for good.