ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION

                 CATHEDRAL HOUSE               

  3 GLOUCESTER STREET

FREETOWN

SIERRA LEONE, WEST AFRICA

TEL: 232-22 221468

FAX: 232-22 221900                            Date:  7/08/12

PRESS RELEASE

ACC PRESENTS OVER FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO MILLION LEONES (Le552,000,000) TO GOVERNMENT AS RECOVERIES OF DEBTS AND STOLEN WEALTH

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) wishes to inform the general public that it has on Tuesday 7th August, 2012 presented to His Excellency the President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, three cheques totaling Le 552,255,066.67 (Five Hundred and Fifty Two Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand, Sixty-Six Leones and Sixty-Seven Cents) as monies recovered from corrupt individuals and debts from corporate entities for the first half of 2012.

Since the passage of the 2008 Anti-Corruption Act, the ACC has paid the total sum of Le 6,150,000,000 (Six Billion, One Hundred and Fifty Million Leones) to the Consolidated Fund of the Government of Sierra Leone, as recoveries of revenue that otherwise would have been unaccounted for.

Presenting the cheques to the President, the Commissioner of the ACC, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara Esq., catalogued the many efforts of the Commission in bringing corrupt individuals to justice and reiterated the commitment of the ACC to continue to vigorously pursue stolen wealth wherever they are hidden. “We are poised to recover up to Le 2.5 Billion in 2012”, the Commissioner said.

In his response, President Ernest Bai Koroma, praised the efforts of the Commission in retrieving monies which otherwise would have been lost to the state. He noted that the recovery of debts and stolen wealth has been made possible by the passage into law an enabling Anti-Corruption Act in 2008 by his Government.

“We have done what we believe we can do to give ACC the space to operate as an independent institution….history will judge us as a government that has done its best in dealing with this cancer in our society”, the President concluded. He further pledged his continued support to the fight against corruption for national development.

In a related development, the ACC has in the last eight weeks, through its timely intervention, directed the transmittal of Le 39 Billion from various financial institutions to the Central Bank.

The fight against corruption has intensified on all fronts. We therefore call on all and sundry to join hands with the Commission to rid our country of corruption.

Shollay Davies

Director, Public Education and Outreach