Opposition Members of Parliament, mainly from the All Peoples Congress (APC) and the National Grand Coalition (NGC) have raised concerns over the interview process on the proposed Commissioner of the Anti Corruption Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala.
According to the NGC Leader in Parliament who is also a Member of the Committee on Appointments, Honourable Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella (KKY) they took a recess during the proposed interview session to discuss some critical issues and agreed before leaving that they will re-convene at 5 pm with the expectation to meet at Committee level again before proceeding.
He said “Let it be on record that I have looked at the nominee’s Curriculum Vitae, he is very competent, but many of us have procedural issues that we were raising with the Committee Chairman.”
Hon KKY called on the nominee to know that he (the nominee) is solid for the position but also to know that they in the Committee have concerns over procedural issues, which they don’t think they have resolved before moving into the interview process.
“This is like an ambush for some of us. We were not expecting this, we thought we would come back and have a discussion” he maintained.
Raising his concern the Leader of the main opposition in Parliament Hon Chernor Maju Bah said the competence and capacity of the nominee is not in question.
“I know him very well and I know him to be competent but I just want to say that before the recess we took a position and we still stand by it” he said, explaining that he will not disclose their decision in public as they met in camera and he will continue to be professional.
After raising their concerns the interview process proceeded with other members of the Committee asking questions relating to the nominee’s plans in addressing the issues of corruption.
According to the proposed Commissioner of ACC, Francis Ben Kaifala corruption is known as the biggest impediment to progress and development and he intends to take the fight against it seriously by injecting a perceptional shift so that the people can know and believe corruption should not be tolerated with the view to reduce it if not to eradicate it.
“My intention is to attack that perception first, give confidence to the people to believe that the fight against corruption is serious and when corruption is reported to the relevant authorities, the people have the confidence that getting away with it is the exception not the rule if at all.”
“I intend to create a robust atmosphere where there is confidence in the fight against corruption. I also intend to make sure that the ACC itself, the staff, members and strategies are well aligned to make sure that corruption is not just about shadow boxing but a realistic fight” he said.
The Nominee was dismissed after the interview and the Committee continued with their closed door meeting which lasted for half an hour with all its members refusing to make any public comments.
The Nominee will be presented to the whole House in the Well of Parliament today.
By Alhaji Manika Kamara
Wednesday June 27, 2018.
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