Public perception on corruption and its related activities has been on the increase leading the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to make a series of strides via its public outreach and sensitisation at various MDAs and institutions. Recently, the ACC north-west regional office engaged members and staff of the regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture in Kambia District on corruption and its effects on a nation.
The Regional Manager, Al-Hassan Sesay, classed the agriculture sector as the backbone of the economy which provides the basic ingredients to citizens, raw materials for industrialisation, and makes considerable contribution to the economic prosperity of the country. He maintained that the sector has been providing sustainable livelihoods, income and employment especially to rural communities and has contributed substantially to the overall development of the state.
Sesay informed the staff that the sustained presence of corruption has adversely affected the achievement of the aforementioned benefits, including the development and growth of the sector in the country, against which background their offices are expanding on the public education outreach campaign to increase public education on corruption. The Regional Manager said the 2019 amended ACC Act has given enormous strengthen to the ACC and has made corruption a very expensive and risky venture for public officers to even consider undertaking. He said there are lots of corruption offences which are not limited to misappropriation of public funds and property, protection of public revenue, abuse of office and position, and influencing a public officer among others.
It could be recalled that between 2012 and 2016, the Anti-Corruption Commission instituted an institutional anti-corruption policy and monitoring for compliance mechanism at the Ministry of Agriculture. The said structure assisted the Commission to detect mismanagement and an accountability saga relating to the forestry fund, seed loan recovery, late supply of seed to farmers, and poor storage and record management, among others.
The District Agriculture Officer, Saidu Bamayange, expressed his appreciations to the Commission for considering the ministry’s staff in that part of the country in their public education campaign, which he said will serve as an immense guide to the ministry’s workforce. He expressed his conviction that getting the agriculture sector right means getting the economy right, which will eventually impact positively on the development of the state.
The Public Education Officer for ACC, Mohamed Thullah, inspired the leadership of the ministry to establish an operationalised Integrity Management Committee (IMC) to internalise the fight against corruption. He furthered that an effective and efficient IMC will promote strong internal systems to control corruption on a sustainable basis for the efficient management of resources and maintaining best practices.
He underscored the significance of maintaining high ethical standards and integrity and cautioned them to resist and reject demands of corruption, be mindful of their interaction with the public, and support in the fight against corruption.
By Mohamed Kabba