The Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Francis Ben Kelfala has expressed frustration over the slow pace in dealing with the ACC cases in the court of law.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday 24th, January 2024 at the Commission’s head office at Tower Hill in Freetown the Commissioner said for the whole of 2023 only two cases have been so far judged by the judiciary.
He said as a Commission, they are always there to do their work but lambasted the law Courts for their negligence to speedily handle cases that have to do with corruption.
“Sometimes my team goes to the doors of the judiciary just to talk with them to ensure that they speed up our cases because the commission cannot do it alone. We need the willingness of the courts to speedily hear these cases. But I don’t understand what’s wrong with our judicial system,” Ben Kelfala asserted.
The ACC boss went on to say that, the Commission depends on the judiciary, adding that they have a lot of cases that were assigned to judges but are yet to be considered for hearing.
The fight to end corruption, Mr. Keifala stressed, requires concerted efforts and the yearly ranking to know whether the country is making progress on the fight to end corruption also depends on cases heard and concluded in courts.
He also stated that the justice system is a major challenge for them as anti-graft institution, adding that the commission is now implementing another strategy for people to repay stolen monies when caught because the judiciary is frustrating the efforts of the commission.
Francis Ben Kelfala stated that apart from the judicial challenge they’re facing as a commission, members of the public are also frustrating the effort of the anti-graft fight in the country.
He revealed that when the ACC displayed teachers at the Cotton Tree, the commission was bashed and he was threatened by Sierra Leoneans.
He maintained that, teachers even down their tools as a result which he said threatened the free education project of President Bio, adding that the President had to apologies on his behalf for the act.
He revealed that since the commission resolved that particular matter, they will never expose corrupt practices publicly and decided to negotiate with them and repay the money they stole from the people.
He assured that despite their limited resources and manpower they will continue to work hard on the fight against anti-graft in the country.
“Just imagine the whole of 2023 only two (2) ACC cases were heard and judged. This is heartrending,” he lamented.